Karen Chapman’s Village Keeper (Smallaxx Motion Pictures; pictured) has been named Best Feature at this year’s edition of the Gender Equity in Media Festival (GEMFest).

The event, organized by GEMS (Gender Equity in Media Society) Vancouver, had its award ceremony at the VIFF Centre on March 8. The festival ran from March 5-9.

Village Keeper is written, directed and produced by the Toronto-based Chapman with Enrique Miguel Baniqued also producing. It follows a Toronto mother who struggles to protect her children from a potentially dangerous environment. The project was financed by Telefilm Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Canada Media Fund (CMF). Toronto’s levelFILM is the Canadian distributor and CBC is its broadcast partner.

Olunike Adeliyi (Akilla’s Escape) was also awarded for Best Performance in the feature film category for her work in the film.

Elsewhere, Tasha Hubbard’s documentary Singing Back The Buffalo took the Best Direction and Best Documentary honours in the feature film category. The film also saw the Best Musical Score award go to composer Melody McKiver.

The film is written, directed and produced by Hubbard with Jason Ryle and George Hupka as producers, in association with CBC and APTN and the participation of CMF, the Indigenous Screen Office and Telefilm. It follows Indigenous visionaries and communities who are restoring or rematriating the buffalo to the lands they once defined.

A one-hour version of the film was broadcast on CBC’s The Nature of Things earlier in March with the feature version airing on APTN later in 2025. It is distributed in Canada by Cinema Politica.

The Impact – Feature award went to Thea Loo’s Inay (Mama) (No More Productions) with Best Editing going to the film’s editor Anna Chiyeko Shannon. The Best Screenplay award went to Sepideh Yadegar’s One Must Wash Eyes. The film, produced by Amanda Konkin, also saw the Best Cinematography award go to Negin Khazaee. As part of the prize, Khazaee received a $10,000 equipment gift certificate from Keslow Camera.

The first of three Best of B.C. Awards went to Jules Arita Koostachin’s Telus Original feature doc NiiMisSak: Sisters in Film. Produced by Patti Poskitt, the film features conversations between women Indigenous directors. The award comes with a $5,000 equipment gift certificate from Sparky’s Grip & Lighting.

The second went to the short animated film February Sixteenth Nineteen Forty-Seven, directed by Jessica Miinguuaqtii. It tells the story of Inuk Elder Levinia Brown and how she was born while her family was travelling by dog team across the open tundra. As part of the prize, the film received a $5,000 Cinelease equipment gift certificate.

The third Best of B.C. winner was the short CBC documentary Little Miss Sleepy (Studio 104 Entertainment), an exploration of what it’s like to live with narcolepsy, directed by Jenny Lee-Gilmore. The film also received a $5,000 equipment gift certificate from MBS Equipment Co.

In the screenplay competition category, Best Feature went to Poisonous from Jasleen Kaur, which comes with $350 of in-kind services from Rephrase Filmworks. Best TV Pilot went to Young Hags by Corina Bizim and Maddy Hillis, with a prize of $350 of in-kind services from Firecracker Department.

In the shorts category, Best Short went to Emily Clark’s U.S. doc Is Gay Marriage Next?; Best Direction went to Passageways by Geneviève Tremblay and Milla Cummings; and the Impact – Short award went to France’s Karateka (Topshot Films), directed by Florence Fauquet.

Best Performance in a Short Film went to Carmen Sylvestre in Stéphanie Bélanger’s Lumen (Les Films Cosmos); Nina Wells was recognized for Best Cinematography for Hweiling Ow’s New Zealand short film Vivie (MHM Productions); and Grace Zhang was selected for Best Editing for Day’s Lovin’ Her (OPC Biscuit Filmworks).

For industry awards, B.C. media advocate Tracey Friesen was posthumously recognized with a Lifetime Achievement in Advancing Equity honour, and artist and educator Doaa Magdy received the Emerging Changemaker Award. Producer and University of British Columbia associate professor Sharon McGowan was presented the Leadership in Education Award and Jules Arita Koostachin received the Artistic Achievement Award.

Image courtesy of Route 504