THE VANCOUVER FILM CRITICS CIRCLE NAME HELLO DESTROYER BEST CANADIAN AND BEST B.C. FILM; WEREWOLF WINS BEST FIRST CANADIAN FILM

VANCOUVER, B.C. (January 10, 2016) – Hello Destroyer, Kevan Funk’s feature debut, has been named Best Canadian Film by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle. Recounting the decline of a Prince George junior hockey player who becomes the scapegoat for an entire system, Hello Destroyer led the awards, taking home five prizes including Best Canadian Director (Funk), Best Actor in a Canadian Film (Jared Abrahamson), Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film (Kurt Max Runte) and Best BC Film. The Best BC Film award included two $500 cash prizes, one for the film’s producers from the Canadian Media Producers Association – BC Producers Branch and another for the director provided by the Directors Guild of Canada – BC District Council.

Ashley McKenzie’s emotionally devastating, visually inventive drama Werewolf earned two awards, including Best First Film by a Canadian Director (McKenzie) and Best Actress in a Canadian Film (Bhreagh MacNeil). Best First Film by a Canadian Director comes with a $500 cash prize courtesy of Telefilm Canada, and the Union of BC Performers / ACTRA sponsored another $500 for Best Actress.

Ann Marie Fleming’s Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming was awarded Best Screenplay. Meanwhile, Molly Parker won Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian film for her work in Weirdos, and Brett Story’s The Prison in Twelve Landscapes took home Best Canadian Documentary

Kirk Tougas was named this year’s recipient of the Ian Caddell Award for Achievement. Presented to a British Columbian who has made a significant contribution to the province’s film industry, this award is named in honour of the VFCC’s cofounder who passed away in 2012. As cofounder of The Pacific Cinematheque and a celebrated filmmaker and cinematographer whose credits include The Corporation and Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, Tougas has made an integral contribution to Vancouver’s cinema culture and helped raise the standard of Canadian documentary filmmaking.

The full list of the Vancouver Film Critics Circle’s Canadian winners are below.

BEST CANADIAN FILM
Hello Destroyer

BEST ACTOR IN A CANADIAN FILM
Jared Abrahamson, Hello Destroyer

BEST ACTRESS IN A CANADIAN FILM
Bhreagh MacNeil, Werewolf ($500 cash prize sponsored by UBCP/ACTRA)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A CANADIAN FILM
Kurt Max Runte, Hello Destroyer

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A CANADIAN FILM
Molly Parker, Weirdos

BEST SCREENPLAY FOR A CANADIAN FILM
Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming, Ann Marie Fleming

BEST DIRECTOR OF A CANADIAN FILM
Kevan Funk, Hello Destroyer

BEST CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY
The Prison in Twelve Landscapes

BEST FIRST FILM BY A CANADIAN DIRECTOR
Werewolf, Ashley McKenzie
($500 cash prize sponsored by Telefilm Canada.)

BEST BRITISH COLUMBIA FILM
Hello Destroyer
($500 cash prize sponsored by the Canadian Media Production Association-BC Producers’ Branch for the film’s producers. $500 cash prize sponsored by the Directors Guild of Canada-BC District Council for the film’s director.)

IAN CADDELL AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT
Kirk Tougas