Congratulations to director Kim Nguyen, star Rachel Mwanza, and the rest of the crew and cast that made War Witch (Rebelle) possible!
The film picked up 10 trophies at the The Canadian Screen Awards (Les prix Écrans Canadiens) this evening – awards given annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television recognizing excellence in Canadian film, TV, and digital media productions.
What’s even more impressive is that the War Witch (which lost the Best Foreign Language Oscar to Austria’s Amour last week) was nominated in 12 categories. So while it wasn’t quite a clean sweep, 10 out of 12 certainly isn’t anything to sneeze at!
The 10 wins include nods in major categories like best picture, best direction (for Kim Nguyen), best actress (for Rachel Mwanza), best supporting actor (for Serge Kanyinda), best original screenplay (also for Nguyen), and more.
Star of the Democratic Republic Of the Congo-set tale, newcomer Mwanza, previously won the prestigious Golden Bear award for best actress at the Berlin Film Festival earlier last year, when the film began its international travels, collecting critical acclaim throughout its journey.
The film is about a young Congolese girl and child soldier named Komona (played by Mwanza), her fight for survival and struggle to find some normalcy and peace in her life.
The multi-award-winning film opened in USA theaters on Friday, March 1, through Tribeca Film, in New York, and will expand to other markets through June.
It’s a film that we encourage you to see in the theater, but if you
can’t wait until it comes to your city, it’s also currently available on demand, so you
could watch it right now!
Here’s the full list of Canadian Screen Awards winners, courtesy of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
BEST MOTION PICTURE
REBELLE / WAR WITCH – Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION
KIM NGUYEN – Rebelle / War Witch
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
JAMES CROMWELL – Still Mine
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
SERGE KANYINDA – Rebelle / War Witch
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
RACHEL MWANZA – Rebelle / War Witch
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
SEEMA BISWAS – Midnight’s Children
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
KIM NGUYEN – Rebelle / War Witch
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
SALMAN RUSHDIE – Midnight’s Children
ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
EMMANUEL FRECHETTE, JOSÉE ARSENAULT – Rebelle / War Witch
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
NICOLAS BOLDUC – Rebelle / War Witch
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
XAVIER DOLAN, FRANÇOIS BARBEAU – Laurence Anyways
ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING
RICHARD COMEAU – Rebelle / War Witch
TED ROGERS BEST FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY
STORIES WE TELL – Anita Lee, Sarah Polley
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
THE BOXING GIRLS OF KABUL – Annette Clarke, Ariel Nasr
ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP
COLLEEN QUINTON, MICHELLE CÔTÉ, KATHY KELSO, MARTIN LAPOINTE – Laurence Anyways
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC – ORIGINAL SCORE
HOWARD SHORE – Cosmopolis
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC – ORIGINAL SONG
EMILY HAINES, JAMES SHAW, HOWARD SHORE – Cosmopolis – Long to Live
ACHIEVEMENT IN OVERALL SOUND
CLAUDE LA HAYE, DANIEL BISSON, BERNARD GARIÉPY STROBL – Rebelle / War Witch
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
MARTIN PINSONNAULT, JEAN-FRANCOIS B. SAUVÉ, SIMON MEILLEUR, CLAIRE POCHON – Rebelle / War Witch
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
DENNIS BERARDI,
JASON EDWARDH, MATT GLOVER, TREY HARRELL, LEANN HARVEY, JO HUGHES, ETHAN
LEE, SCOTT RIOPELLE, ERIC ROBINSON, KYLE YONEDA – Resident Evil:
Retribution
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT DRAMA
THROAT SONG – Miranda de Pencier, Stacey Aglok MacDonald
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
PAULA – Julie Roy, Dominic Étienne Simard
