The Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) has selected Anthony Shim’s Riceboy Sleeps for the 2022 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award.

The $100,000 film prize — touted as the richest annual film prize in Canada — was announced on Monday (March 6) during the TFCA’s gala dinner at the Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto.

Shim, a Vancouver-based filmmaker, wrote, directed, produced and edited Riceboy Sleeps under his Loneshome Heroes banner. Rebecca Steele of Kind Stranger Productions and Bryan Demore of A Lasting Dose also produced the film. Riceboy Sleeps is a semi-autobiographical take on Shim’s childhood, and follows a Korean mother and son as they navigate life as immigrants in B.C. in the 1990s.

Actor Tantoo Cardinal presented the prize during the gala, and Riceboy Sleeps cast member Ethan Hwang accepted the award on Shim’s behalf.

TFCA president Johanna Schneller said Riceboy Sleeps “shimmers with delicacy, empathy and authenticity,” in a statement on the film’s win, adding that “it’s made with such self-assurance, and he elicits an indelible performance from his lead, Choi Seung-yoon.”

“Movies like Riceboy Sleeps are the reason the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award exists,” added Robin Mirsky, executive director, Rogers Group of Funds. “Films reflect who we are, and Anthony Shim’s story resonates with so many Canadian immigrant families. It’s a testament to the idea that the more specific a story is, the more universal it feels.”

Riceboy Sleeps is nominated for six Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture. It also won the Platform Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where it had its world premiere.

Toronto’s Game Theory Films handles Canadian distribution for Riceboy Sleeps, which will be released domestically in theatres on March 17. The film was sold to a number of territories at the European Film Market in Berlin last month, including the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Benelux, Israel and Spain.

The other nominees for Rogers Best Canadian Film Award – Clement Virgo’s Brother (Conquering Lion Pictures, Hawkeye Pictures) and David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future (Serendipity Point Films) – will receive a runner-up prize of $5,000 from Rogers Communications.

Previously announced winners recognized at the gala include retired TIFF programmer Steve Gravestock, who was given the Company 3 Luminary Award. Gravestock named producer Hugh Gibson and writer-director Frieda Luk as the recipients of the pay-it-forward grant worth $50,000 of in-kind services.

Carol Nguyen was presented the $10,000 Stella Artois Jay Scott Prize, and Michelle Krasovitski received the Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic Award.

Image courtesy of Game Theory Films