On Friday I chatted with Toronto culture commentator and reviewer Rad Simonpillai on CBC Mainstreet here in Halifax about the Canadian Screen Awards. He went into detail about why this year was an interesting step toward further relevance for the Canadian version of the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Emmys.

You won’t be able to hear my chat with Rad online if you missed it on the radio on Friday, but you can hear a very similar conversation on the Yukon afternoon show if you click here.

One of the things Rad pointed out was that the award show, which aired on Sunday night, was broadcast on multiple Canadian carriers: CBC, CTV, and Global — all the major networks, with the exception of Rogers, which owns CityTV.  Not sure why they didn’t get on board with this expression of solidarity in Canadian talent, but it sure looks bad on them.

Rad also mentioned that while the TV series up for awards, like North of North and Heated Rivalry — adapting the books by Nova Scotian writer Rachel Reid — are beloved and deservedly so, many of Canada’s feature films remain unseen.

Blue Heron is the picture Rad called one of the best films of the year, Canadian or otherwise. It was only was screened in a couple dozen cinemas in Canada, but it was picked up by legendary distributor Janus Films in the US and got a wider release there. (For the record, Blue Heron screened in May at Carbon Arc Cinema here in Halifax.)

There was a Canadian box office success this year that you can’t deny, Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie, a cinematic sequel to the popular web series by Matt Johnson. I appreciated the fantasy elements of the film a lot more than the comedy, but I get why the picture found an audience.

The point is Canadians are still not getting the chance to see a lot of the cinematic contenders for awards in cinemas. I hope the broader representation of the Canadian Screen Awards encourages distributors like Cineplex and Landmark in Canada to make more room for films like Blue Heron, and that Canadians pay more attention to them. Speaking of underseen features, a Nova Scotian film, There, There, from director Heather Young, was up for four awards on the night.

So, how did these, and other well-regarded Canadian features do at the CSAs?

Surprisingly, despite all the critical accolades, Blue Heron went home empty handed — this after having won the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from the (deeply compromised) Toronto Film Critics Association this year. Clearly the CSA voters weren’t as fond of it as the critical community. (For the record I thought it was a beautiful-looking film for a first effort, but a bit emotionally austere.)

Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie won Best Motion Picture, no surprise there, but I was thrilled to see the excellent 40 Acres, take home a number of awards including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for writer-director RT Thorne. I appreciate there’s room in the Canadian awards schemata for genre — in this case post-apocalyptic horror and action.

For the record, I think some of 2025’s best Canadian films Mile End Kicks, At The Place Of Ghosts, and Sweet Angel Baby deserved more love — though they all went home with at least one award — while others were a little over-garlanded.

And the CSAs should bow their heads in shame for giving the Best Original Song to “The Alphabet Song” from Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie. I mean, come on.

A special nod to Newfoundland filmmaker and former Haligonian, Wanda Nolan for her doc, The Muse, which won Best Short Documentary. I hope this recognition means she gets a chance to make more films in the future. That’s the best thing these awards show can do — help real talent build a career.

For the full list of nominees and winners at the CSAs, go here.