Night Blooms from writer-director Stephanie Joline and CBC original comedy series Moonshine were among the top winners at the 2022 Screen Nova Scotia awards gala over the weekend.

Night Blooms won best feature film while Joline (pictured left) took home the Best Nova Scotia Director Award from Women in Film & Television – Atlantic for her work on the coming-of-age drama, produced by Marc Tetreault and Jason Levangie (Shut Up & Colour Pictures).

Night Blooms actor Alexandra McDonald won an ACTRA Maritimes Award for Outstanding Performance for her role as the best friend to the teenage protagonist, played by Jessica Clement.

The first season of Moonshine (pictured right), from showrunner Sheri Elwood and producer Charles Bishop (Six Eleven Media), landed the best television series award. The family series is set to begin production on season two in Nova Scotia this summer, with a fall 2022 air date.

Other winners at the eighth annual awards gala celebrating the province’s screen sector included Freedom Swell from Marie and Meaghan Wright (Mirror Image Media), which won best documentary for its look at the North Preston Surf program for African Nova Scotian youth.

Actor Patrick Cadegan of the comedy web series Tracy & Martina: Dirty Deeds (Swearnet) won the new Groundbreaking Performance Award, which celebrates a performer who identifies as diverse and does not meet the eligibility criteria for the ACTRA awards for their work in a film or TV/web series. An online voting process determined the winner.

Snagging the new award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography was Kevin Fraser for his work on feature films Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor (Picture Plant) and Bone Cage (Afro Viking Pictures/Bone Cage Productions), as well as on several documentary projects.

Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor was also recognized in the performance category, with Reid Price taking an ACTRA Maritimes Awards for Outstanding Performance for playing Byron in the film, which is Shelley Thompson’s debut feature.

Other Outstanding Performance winners included: Avery Winters-Anthony of the Indigenous drama Wildhood, from Two-Spirit L’nu filmmaker Bretten Hannam; and Beth Amiro for the short film Second Wedding, directed by Taylor Olson.

Baduk from writer/director Induk Lee and producer Kelsey Power (You First Productions) won the best short film award, while Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans Go! took best animated series for the Nova Scotian animation studio Copernicus Studios.

The Film Crew Excellence Award went to construction co-ordinator Stephan Bernier (art department), while the 2022 Community Recognition Award recipient was Juanita Currie, business rental area sales manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Night Blooms was the leading contender with six nominations going into the show on Saturday (June 18), which was the first in-person Screen Nova Scotia awards gala since 2019, when it shifted online due to the pandemic.