Screen Nova Scotia hosted its fourth annual awards on May 16 in Halifax, with Black Cop and Pure taking home the big prizes of the night.

Cory Bowles’ debut feature Black Cop was produced by Aaron Horton and executive produced by Terry Greenlaw. The film, which premiered at TIFF in 2017, tells the story of a black police officer who is profiled by his colleagues when he’s off duty. Northern Banner recently picked up the Canadian rights to the film, while Samuel Goldwyn Films took U.S. distribution rights.

Pure, produced by Two East Productions and Cineflix, picked up the best TV series at the event. The show, which debuted on CBC in 2017 and has since been brought back by Super Channel for a second season, follows a Mennonite pastor trying to rid his community of drug traffickers.

Other big winners at the event were Dream Street Pictures’ Sickboy, directed by Andrew MacCormack, which picked up best doc; Copernicus Studios won best animated series for the Emmy-nominated If You Give a Mouse a Cookie; and Oneiric Films and May Your Day Productions’ Thug, directed by Daniel Boos, which won best short film. Simon Paul Mutabazi was also awarded best lead actor for his performance in the short, while Emmanuel John picked up best actor in a supporting role.

Other acting awards went to Jennie Raymond for her lead role in Sex & Violence and Shelley Thompson for her supporting role in Michael Melski’s The Child Remains. 

New this year, Women in Film & Television – Atlantic (WIFT-AT) presented the best director award, honouring the achievement of a female filmmaker based in Nova Scotia. The inaugural award went to Donna Davies for High Hopes. 

Lastly, the DANS Award for outstanding achievement in animation went to Lorna Kirk for her short film Him, while scenic artist Kevin Lewis (The Lighthouse, The Mist), took home the film crew excellence award.

The awards, which took place at Casino Nova Scotia, were co-hosted by Jonathan Torrens, Cathy Jones, Bette MacDonald and Rob Wells.