Latest news with #TorontoFilmCriticsAssociation
Hamilton Spectator
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Canadian doc about trans soul singer Jackie Shane wins Peabody award
A Canadian documentary about trailblazing transgender soul singer Jackie Shane has won a Peabody Award. 'Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story,' directed by Edmonton's Michael Mabbott and Toronto's Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, was named a winner in the documentary category. The film tells the story of Shane, who disappeared from the spotlight in 1971 after dominating Toronto's music scene throughout the 1960s. Shane died in Nashville in 2019 at age 78, a year after getting a Grammy nod for an album that put her back on the map. 'Any Other Way' was also named best Canadian documentary by the Toronto Film Critics Association in February. Co-produced by Banger Films and the National Film Board of Canada, the doc is currently streaming on Crave. Peabody winners will be celebrated at a ceremony in Los Angeles on June 1. Mabbott told The Canadian Press earlier this year that the reception to the film has been 'overwhelming.' 'I've never seen anything like it, where young teenagers are moved by Jackie, and people in their 70s and 80s who remember seeing Jackie are moved by the story,' he said. 'It's really incredible, the response and support.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canadian doc about trans soul singer Jackie Shane wins Peabody award
A Canadian documentary about trailblazing transgender soul singer Jackie Shane has won a Peabody Award. 'Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story,' directed by Edmonton's Michael Mabbott and Toronto's Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, was named a winner in the documentary category. The film tells the story of Shane, who disappeared from the spotlight in 1971 after dominating Toronto's music scene throughout the 1960s. Shane died in Nashville in 2019 at age 78, a year after getting a Grammy nod for an album that put her back on the map. 'Any Other Way' was also named best Canadian documentary by the Toronto Film Critics Association in February. Co-produced by Banger Films and the National Film Board of Canada, the doc is currently streaming on Crave. Peabody winners will be celebrated at a ceremony in Los Angeles on June 1. Mabbott told The Canadian Press earlier this year that the reception to the film has been 'overwhelming.' 'I've never seen anything like it, where young teenagers are moved by Jackie, and people in their 70s and 80s who remember seeing Jackie are moved by the story,' he said. 'It's really incredible, the response and support.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2025.
CBC
02-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
J Stevens is one of the most exciting new voices in Canadian film
Social Sharing Here & Queer is a Canadian Screen Award-winning talk series hosted by Peter Knegt that celebrates and amplifies the work of LGBTQ artists through unfiltered conversations. J Stevens is one of the most exciting new voices in Canadian cinema. In fact, that was just made somewhat official by the Toronto Film Critics Association, who awarded Stevens this year's Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist in Canada's film industry. (Previous winners have included Matt Johnson, Xavier Dolan, Molly McGlynn and Ashley McKenzie, so Stevens is in some very notable company). The prize came with regard to Stevens' first feature Really Happy Someday, an incredibly moving account of a musical theatre performer (Breton Lalama, who is fantastic in the film, which he co-wrote with Stevens) regaining his voice after his transition. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, and that's when we got the chance to sit down with Stevens on the set of Here & Queer. Watch the entire interview below: For more information on future screenings of Really Happy Someday, click here.
CBC
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Toronto film critics name Winnipeg-shot Universal Language best film at awards ceremony
Social Sharing A mind-bending dramedy set in an alternate-reality Winnipeg was named best Canadian feature by the Toronto Film Critics Association at a gala celebrating last year's cinematic achievements. Universal Language writer-director Matthew Rankin and co-writer Ila Firouzabadi accepted the $50,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award at the glitzy bash Monday night. "It's a movie that is really about people being very nice to each other, and I feel like that's why audiences have responded to it," Rankin told The Canadian Press at the event. "It's a very gentle film at a point in history that is anything but gentle. And there's a catharsis to that: There are fewer and fewer spaces that are not predicated on opposition and cruelty, winners and losers, and pitting people against each other." The film sees the Winnipeg director play himself alongside a Persian- and French-speaking cast in a cross-cultural odyssey where Winnipeg, Quebec and Tehran converge as one. It was Canada's official entry for best international feature at this year's Academy Awards, but did not make the cut. Rankin said he's not a competitive person but welcomed the opportunity to pay off his debts. "I think I'll pay my Rogers bill. I owe a whole lot of money to Bell also," he joked on the red carpet before the event. Music documentary takes prize Another major winner announced at the ceremony was Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, which won the $50,000 Rogers Best Canadian Documentary Award. Michael Mabbott, who co-directed the film with Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, accepted the award. The music documentary tells the story of Shane, a trailblazing transgender soul singer who vanished from the spotlight in 1971 after dominating the Toronto music scene throughout the 1960s. Shane died in Nashville in 2019 at age 78, a year after receiving a Grammy nomination for an album that put her back on the map. Mabbott said the reception to the film has been "overwhelming." "I've never seen anything like it, where young teenagers are moved by Jackie, and people in their 70s and 80s who remember seeing Jackie are moved by the story. It's really incredible, the response and support," the Edmonton-born filmmaker told The Canadian Press. "And also, Toronto is Jackie's hometown. Shining a light on Jackie and who she was and who she still is in this town means a lot to us — and I think it would mean a lot to her." Mabbott said winning the prize money would likely help fund another project — "we'd be living another day to make another film." "The media landscape is a tricky thing and a hard way to make a living," he said in a red-carpet interview. Runners-up for the two prizes each received $5,000. They include the films Rumours and Shepherds, and the documentaries Yintah and Your Tomorrow. The Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist went to filmmaker J Stevens, who made their directorial debut last year with drama Really Happy Someday, about a musical theatre performer grappling with loss of his vocal range after transitioning to a trans-masculine identity. Meanwhile, actor and Reelworld Screen Institute founder Tonya Williams was presented the Company 3 Luminary Award, given to an industry member who has made a significant contribution to Canadian cinema. The award comes with a pay-it-forward prize of $50,000 in production services to be bestowed upon an emerging filmmaker of the winner's choosing. Williams chose Vancouver-based filmmaker Leena Minifie as the recipient. The majority of TFCA's 2024 awards were announced in December. RaMell Ross's Jim Crow-era historical drama Nickel Boys won three of the top prizes, including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay. Ross was on hand the accept his awards, presented by Toronto International Film Festival CEO Cameron Bailey. The gala was hosted by Outer Range actor Tamara Podemski.
