A documentary about a Jamaican American poet and a supernatural horror film have won major awards from the Directors Guild of Canada.
Laurie Townshend won the DGC’s Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary for A Mother Apart. It’s about how 2SLGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin is reclaiming the art of mothering.
Chin is a Jamaican-born, Brooklyn-based spoken-word artist with Hakka Chinese and African ancestry. A Mother Apart is available on CBC Gem.
Meanwhile, Adam B. Stein, Zach Lipovsky & Team won the DGC Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Final Destination: Bloodlines. The Warner Bros. movie was filmed in Vancouver and its box-office gross exceeded $315 million.
Tony Todd returned in this installment of the franchise to once again play William Bludworth. Todd died in 2024, but remained in the film because all of the scenes with him had already been shot. The producers ended up dedicating Final Destination: Bloodlines to the veteran actor.
The biggest winner of the evening was the CBC-APTN-Netflix series North of North, which took home five DGC Awards. The Handmaid’s Tale, which was inspired by the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name, captured three prizes.
The DGC held its award ceremony at Koerner Hall in Toronto on Saturday (November 8).
Full list of DGC Award winners
DGC IMPACT AWARD: R.T. Thorne
DON HALDANE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD: Cathie Edgar
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FEATURE FILM: Adam B. Stein, Zach Lipovsky & Team – Final Destination: Bloodlines
FEATURE FILM CREW OF THE YEAR: Frankenstein
ALLAN KING AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN DOCUMENTARY: Laurie Townshend – A Mother Apart
JEAN-MARC VALLÉE DGC DISCOVERY AWARD: Trevor Solway – Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man
BEST SHORT FILM: Alicia K. Harris – “On a Sunday at Eleven”
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE FILM: Aleks Marinkovich – The Apprentice
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FILM (LIMITED BUDGET): Liz Bischof – A Nice Indian Boy
BEST PICTURE EDITING – FEATURE FILM: Dev Singh & Sandy Pereira – 40 Acres
BEST PICTURE EDITING – DOCUMENTARY: Pauline Decroix – The Nest
BEST SOUND EDITING – FEATURE FILM: Ed Douglas, Dermain Finlayson – 40 Acres
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMATIC SERIES: Alexandra La Roche & Team – House of David, The Song of Moses
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY SERIES: Danis Goulet & Team – North of North, Bad Influences
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FAMILY SERIES: Michelle Morgan & Team – Heartland, Fork in the Road
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES FOR TELEVISION & MINI-SERIES: Alicia K. Harris & Team – I Will Survive: The Gloria Gaynor Story
A big night for North of North
DRAMA SERIES CREW OF THE YEAR: The Last of Us – Season 2
COMEDY SERIES CREW OF THE YEAR: North of North – Season 1
TV MOVIE CREW OF THE YEAR: Wynonna Earp: Vengeance
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – DRAMATIC SERIES & MINI-SERIES: Élisabeth Williams – The Handmaid’s Tale, Exodus
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – COMEDY OR FAMILY SERIES & MINI-SERIES: Andrew Berry – North of North, Top of the World
BEST PICTURE EDITING – DRAMATIC SERIES: Aaron Marshall – The Handmaid’s Tale, Exodus
BEST PICTURE EDITING – MOVIES FOR TELEVISION & MINI-SERIES: Julia Blua & Pete Watson – Terror Comes Knocking: The Marcela Borges Story
BEST PICTURE EDITING – COMEDY OR FAMILY SERIES: Marianna Khoury & Sam Thomson – North of North, Top of the World
BEST SOUND EDITING – DRAMATIC SERIES: Jane Tattersall, Brennan Mercer, David McCallum, Krystin Hunter, Dustin Harris, David Caporale, Nadya Hanlon, Abby Austria, Yuri Gorbachow – The Handmaid’s Tale, Execution
BEST SOUND EDITING – MOVIES FOR TELEVISION & MINI-SERIES: Dave Johnson, Janice Ierulli, Kevin Banks, Mark Shnuriwsky, Matthew Hussey, Susan Fawcett – Wynonna Earp: Vengeance
BEST SOUND EDITING – COMEDY OR FAMILY SERIES: Mark Dejczak, Ed Douglas, Brent Pickett, Jean Bot, Rob Hegedus – North of North, Top of the World
Follow Charlie Smith on Bluesky @charliesmithvcr.bsky.social. Follow Pancouver on Instagram @PancouverMedia and on Bluesky @pancouver.
