Audience Awards

Exercise your right to vote! At each in-person screening you’ll receive a ballot so you can share your feedback on the Festival selections. For digital screenings, Cinesend will allow you to submit a rating from 1–5 stars for every film you watch from May 26 to June 5.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “You have bewitched me, body and soul.” (Pride and Prejudice, 2005)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Hello, gorgeous!” (Funny Girl, 1968)

⭐⭐⭐ – “You don’t always get the dream house, but you get awfully close.” (13 Going on 30, 2004)

⭐⭐ – “I’m not a prude, I’m just highly selective.” (Clueless, 1995)

⭐ – “Houston, we have a problem.” (Apollo 13, 1995)

Best Narrative Feature

Sponsored by eOne

This $3,000 cash award will be presented to the audience’s favourite feature-length film.

Best Documentary Feature

Sponsored by eOne

This $3,000 cash award will be presented to the audience’s favourite feature-length documentary film.

Best Short Film

Sponsored by eOne

This $1,000 cash award is presented to the audience’s favourite film within a shorts program.

Canadian Juried Awards

Canadian works completed in the last 18 months and screening at this year’s Festival are eligible for consideration by the jury.

Best Canadian Feature (Narrative or Documentary)

Sponsored by Warner Access Media

This $3,000 cash award is presented to an established Canadian artist for their feature-length narrative or documentary film.

In-Kind contribution: $5,000 package from Sim International; software licensing from Final Draft

Emerging Canadian Artist

Sponsored by RBC Royal Bank

This award includes a cash prize of $5,000 from our Lead Sponsor, RBC. It will be presented to an early career Canadian filmmaker. The recipient must have directed no more than two fiction narrative short films or no more than one fiction narrative feature-length film.

Software licensing from Final Draft

Best Canadian Short

Sponsored by Daydream

This $1,000 cash award is presented to a Canadian filmmaker for their short-form narrative or documentary film.

Software licensing from Final Draft

International Juried Awards

Best First Feature Award

Sponsored by David Carter

This $3,000 cash award is presented to the International Jury’s selection for best film by a first-time feature director. Past winners of this award include Sophie Hyde for 52 Tuesdays and Andrew Ahn for Spa Night. This award was originally established through the generosity of Bill Ostrander.

Software licensing from Final Draft

Leadership Circle Prize for Outstanding Performance

This $1,000 cash award is presented by the Leadership Circle for the most outstanding performance by an actor in a feature-length narrative film.

Pitch, Please!

Sponsored by Netflix

Our pitch competition will take place in person on June 4, 2022, at 2:00pm, as competitors from across the globe present a short, two-minute pitch to a jury and audience, with one winner taking home a $5,000 production grant sponsored by Netflix.

Production package contributors: Final Draft, Moondog, EP Canada, William F. White, BANFF World Media Festival

We’ll celebrate the winners that our juries have chosen at the Closing Night Gala.