Wayne Wapeemukwa and Kathleen Hepburn are among the four directors competing for the Directors Guild of Canada’s second-annual Discovery Award, which celebrates emerging talent.

Wapeemukwa is nominated for Luk’Luk’I (pictured), his debut feature which picked up the Best Canadian First Feature award at TIFF and the best B.C. film at VIFF. Hepburn made the short list for Never Steady Never Still, with Winston DeGiobbi (Mass For Shut-Ins) and Ian Lagarde (All You Can Eat Buddha) rounding out the final four. The short list was selected from an initial long list of 15 directors.

The nominees were announced by DGC National Directors division chair Warren P. Sonoda and jury chair Ingrid Veninger.

This year’s award recipient will be selected by a jury that includes last year’s winner Chloé Leriche (Avant Les Rues) as well as Stephen Dunn (Closet Monster), Kevan Funk (Hello Destroyer), Johnny Ma (Old Stone) and Ashley McKenzie (Werewolf). The award will be presented at the DGC Awards gala on Oct. 28.

Image courtesy of TIFF