The TFCA Celebrates the Best Films of 2025
On March 2, 2026, at the Omni King Edward Hotel, the TFCA held its annual gathering, hosted by Tamara Podemski, to celebrate the best in Canadian and international film.
“The montage,” cut by Brian D. Johnson, is an annual highlight of the TFCA Awards gala.
Watch the compilation celebrating the winners and nominees for this year’s awards below.
ROGERS
BEST CANADIAN FILM
This award carries a cash prize of $50,000, courtesy of Rogers Communications.
Runners-up receive $5,000.
Blue Heron
Directed by Sophy Romvari
(Blue Fox Entertainment)
Transcending the “autofiction” genre, Sophy Romvari’s Blue Heron follows a Hungarian family’s move to Vancouver Island in the 1990s, and the tragedy that struck in the process. It sees their story through the eyes of the family’s youngest, Sasha (Eylul Guven), in both the past and the present. An exploration of how time and age challenge the memories we hold so dear, Romvari investigates and honours a deeply human experience with a film that cements the arrival of a great Canadian talent.
— Rachel Ho
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Directed by Matt Johnson
(Elevation Pictures)
The powerhouse duo of Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol have resurrected their moribund hilarious mockumentary web series Nirvanna the Band the Show more than 15 years later for the big screen. So of course they borrow heavily from Back to the Future, as their characters (Matt and Jay, naturally) find themselves whisked back to 2008. The boys are still obsessed with playing a show at Toronto’s Rivoli, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes, breaking laws constitutional, paradoxical, physical, and even narrative along the way. It’s all in good fun, and it’s all very, very funny.
— Chris Knight
The Shrouds
Directed by David Cronenberg
(Sphere Films)
An enormously thoughtful, patient and frequently hilarious dissection of memory, sex, and the expiration date that we are all staring down, The Shrouds lands as something of a grand syllabus of David Cronenberg Studies. Yet the film isn’t a last will and testament from the Canadian icon, either, no matter frequent his threats of retirement. If anything, this work is evidence of a fiercely alive filmmaker, as charged in his passion and committed in his ambitions as ever.
— Barry Hertz
ROGERS
BEST CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY
This award carries a cash prize of $50,000, courtesy of Rogers Communications.
Runners-up receive $5,000.
Endless Cookie
Directed by Seth Scriver, Pete Scriver
(Mongrel Media)
Hilarious, psychedelic, and surprisingly poignant, Endless Cookie just might be one of the most accurate portrayals of community and the creative process. Not since Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell have we had such a warm and woolly exploration of memories served up by a buffet of oral anecdotes as those shared between Seth Scriver and his Indigenous half-brother Peter. Don’t let the colourful cartoons fool you: Under the seemingly shambolic collection of stories is a bracing view of Indigenous survival and spirituality.
— Eli Glasner
Ghosts of the Sea
Directed by Virginia Tangvald
(NFB)
Virginia Tangvald’s father Peter and her brother Thomas died separately at sea. She wants to know why. Through interviews with navigators, seamen, and family friends, she realizes that Thomas emulated their father, a famous sailor who worshipped personal freedom and answered to no one while taking outrageous risks. Even more gripping, Tangvald hears horrifying evidence that Peter also wanted freedom to control the women around him. With its visually stunning backdrop of the raging seas, this is a devastating, brave, exploration of narcissism and obsession.
— Susan G. Cole
Who Killed the Montreal Expos?
Directed by Jean-François Poisson
(Netflix)
Contrary to the old adage, failure has many fathers, as one sees in director Jean-François Poisson’s Who Killed the Montreal Expos? An insightful look into the fickle relationship between athletics and accounting, this film isn’t an attempt to assign blame upon any one person or company for the folding of Canada’s first Major League Baseball team (sorry, Toronto). It’s a call for a nuanced point of view and a wider sense of accountability. It’s what the fans deserve.
— Andrew Parker
BEST PICTURE
WINNER
One Battle After Another
(Warner Bros.)
RUNNERS UP
Hamnet
(Universal Pictures Canada)
Sinners
(Warner Bros.)
BEST DIRECTOR
WINNER
Paul Thomas Anderson
One Battle After Another
(Warner Bros.)
RUNNERS UP
Ryan Coogler
Sinners
(Warner Bros.)
Oliver Laxe
Sirāt
(Elevation Pictures)
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE
WINNERS
Rose Byrne
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
(VVS Films)
Blue Moon
(Mongrel Media)
RUNNERS UP
Jessie Buckley
Hamnet
(Universal Pictures Canada)
One Battle After Another
(Warner Bros.)
Michael B. Jordan
Sinners
(Warner Bros.)
Wagner Moura
The Secret Agent
(Elevation Pictures)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
WINNERS
Benicio del Toro
One Battle After Another
(Warner Bros.)
Nina Hoss
Hedda
(Amazon Studios)
RUNNERS UP
Jacob Elordi
Frankenstein
(Netflix)
Amy Madigan
Weapons
(Warner Bros.)
Sean Penn
One Battle After Another
(Warner Bros.)
Stellan Skarsgård
Sentimental Value
(Elevation Pictures)
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE
IN A CANADIAN FILM
WINNER
Joan Chen
Montreal, My Beautiful
(Filmoption International)
RUNNERS UP
Deragh Campbell
Measures for a Funeral
(Vortex Media)
The Shrouds
(Sphere Films)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A CANADIAN FILM
WINNER
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Sweet Angel Baby
(Vortex Media)
RUNNERS UP
Montreal, My Beautiful
(Filmoption International)
In Cold Light
(Elevation Pictures)
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
WINNER
Abou Sangaré
Souleymane’s Story
(Kino Lorber)
RUNNERS UP
Sinners
(Warner Bros.)
One Battle After Another
(Warner Bros.)
BEST FIRST FEATURE
WINNER
Blue Heron
Sophy Romvari
(Blue Fox Entertainment)
RUNNERS UP
Carson Lund
(Vortex Media)
Eva Victor
(VVS Films)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
WINNER
Sinners
Ryan Coogler
(Warner Bros.)
RUNNERS UP
Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein
(Elevation Pictures)
Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt
(Elevation Pictures)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
WINNER
One Battle After Another
Paul Thomas Anderson
(Warner Bros.)
RUNNERS UP
Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell
(Universal Pictures Canada)
No Other Choice
Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, Jayhe Lee
(Elevation Pictures)
ALLAN KING DOCUMENTARY AWARD
WINNER
Come See Me in the Good Light
Ryan White
(Apple Original Films)
RUNNERS UP
Orwell: 2+2=5
Raoul Peck
(Elevation Pictures)
Tamara Kotevska
(Sherry Media Group/National Geographic)
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
WINNER
Sirāt
Oliver Laxe
(Elevation Pictures)
RUNNERS UP
It Was Just an Accident
Jafar Panahi
(Elevation Pictures)
The Secret Agent
Kleber Mendonça Filho
(Elevation Pictures)
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
WINNER
Endless Cookie
Seth Scriver, Pete Scriver
(Mongrel Media)
RUNNERS UP
KPop Demon Hunters
Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans
(Netflix)
Space Cadet
Kid Koala
(Les Films Opale)
JAY SCOTT PRIZE
WINNER
Xiaodan He
Quebec-based director Xiaodan He’s credits include A Touch of Spring and the documentaries Cairo Calling and My Father’s Journey. Her second dramatic feature, Montreal, Ma Belle, stars Joan Chen as a wife and mother who finally finds the strength to act on the queer desire she’s repressed all her life. In addition to being a bright, generous drama about one woman’s acceptance of herself, the film is also a subtle and occasionally devastating look at the cultural disconnect that can define the immigrant experience … but doesn’t have to.
— Norm Wilner
COMPANY 3
LUMINARY AWARD:
RON MANN
As part of the award, Ron Mann gets to select one emerging filmmaker to receive $50,000 in services from Company 3. His pay-it-forward recipient is Jacquelyn Mills (Geographies of Solitude).
From early days sleeping on the beach at Cannes before clambering to screenings, to having his award-winning documentaries projected in prestigious theatres around the planet, to bringing restorations of Canadian films to audiences worldwide, and championing works by Canadian talents and international artists via his distribution company, Ron Mann has steadfastly provided audiences with films we like. He’s somehow done all of these feats while remaining a total mensch.
— Jason Gorber
TELEFILM CANADA EMERGING CRITIC AWARD:
NIRRIS NAGENDRARAJAH
This award carries a cash prize of $5000, courtesy of Telefilm Canada.
The TFCA receives many applications for this award, and it’s always refreshing to encounter a voice that cuts through the echo chamber of Tár reviews and superhero hot takes. Nirris Nagendrarajah caught our attention with his clear and distinct voice, but also his efforts to use insightful, well-informed film criticism as a tool to both reflect and build community. You should read his work in publications like Little White Lies, MUBI Notebook, and CBC Arts—and surely more to come.
— Pat Mullen
The TFCA is extremely grateful to founding sponsor Rogers Communications for the Rogers Best Canadian Film and the Rogers Best Canadian Documentary. TFCA thanks returning sponsors Netflix as Dinner sponsor, Prime Video as Cocktail Reception and After Party sponsor and Air Canada as Official Airline. TFCA salutes Telefilm Canada as Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic sponsor and Company 3 as Company 3 Luminary Award Sponsor.and welcomes new sponsors McCain Foods , A/V sponsor The Magen Group and Sparkling sponsor Luc Belaire. The TFCA also thanks sponsors Omni King Edward Hotel and salutes stalwart supporters, Zoomer Magazine, L’Eat Catering, The Printing House, Element Event Solutions.