January 27, 2025

Reelworld Film Festival Founder Tonya Williams Awarded 2024 Company 3 Luminary Award

J Stevens Wins Jay Scott Prize for an Emerging Artist

Alexander Mooney Wins Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic Award

The Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) announced today Tonya Williams, founder and executive director of the Reelworld Film Festival and Reelworld Screen Institute, as the recipient of the 2024 Company 3 Luminary Award. The award recognizes a Canadian industry figure who has made a substantial and outstanding contribution to the advancement and/or history of Canadian cinema.

Williams began her career as an actress, working on television series such as The Polka Dot Door, Street Legal, Hill Street Blues, and a recurring role on The Young and the Restless. However, recognizing that the challenges she faced as a Black actor seeking substantial work were not unique, Williams founded the Reelworld Film Festival in 2000 with a mission to promote the works of racially diverse professionals. That mandate led to the creation of the Reelworld Foundation (now called Reelworld Screen Institute), which has produced opportunities for professional development. For more than 25 years, Williams has played a starring role in the push for diversity, equity, and inclusion in Canadian film and television, touching many careers and advocating in all corners of the industry.

Additionally, the TFCA announced winners of two awards recognizing those viably seen as forwarding Canadian cinema and culture through their work.

J Stevens was named the winner of the 2024 Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist. Stevens directed, produced, shot, and co-wrote their first feature Really Happy Someday, which premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is a moving account of a stage musical performer regaining his voice after his transition. Really Happy Someday developed out of a collaborative relationship with star/co-writer Breton Lalama and this collective spirit reflects Stevens’ efforts to tell stories that represent a diverse spectrum of 2SLGBTQ+ experiences in films and series. It also reflects Stevens’ work with the Spindle Films Foundation, which supports emerging trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse creatives in the screen sector by providing mentorship and development opportunities.

Alexander Mooney was named the winner of the 2024 Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic award for aspiring film reviewers. Mooney’s work has appeared in Exclaim!, In the Mood Magazine, MUBI Notebook, and Documentary Magazine. He graduated with an HBA in Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto in June 2024. The Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic award comes with a cash prize of $1,000, courtesy of Telefilm Canada.

These awards will be presented along with the prestigious Rogers Best Canadian Film and Rogers Best Canadian Documentary on Monday, February 24, 2025, at a gala held at Toronto’s Omni King Edward Hotel, hosted by acclaimed Canadian actress Tamara Podemski. The nominees for Rogers Best Canadian Film are Rumours, directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson; Shepherds, directed by Sophie Deraspe; and Universal Language, directed by Matthew Rankin. The nominees for Rogers Best Canadian Documentary are Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, directed by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee; Yintah, directed by Michael Toledano, Jennifer Wickham, and Brenda Michell; and Your Tomorrow, directed by Ali Weinstein. Both awards carry a cash prize of $50,000, courtesy of Rogers Communications. The two runners up in each category will receive $5,000.

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 sponsor and Air Canada as Official Airline. TFCA salutes Telefilm Canada as the Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic sponsor and Company 3 as the Company 3 Luminary Award Sponsor. The TFCA also thanks sponsors Omni King Edward Hotel and salutes stalwart supporters, G.H. Mumm Champagne, L’Eat Catering, Zoomer Magazine, The Printing House, Element Event Solutions and Pinnacle Live.

Under the TFCA’s rules, eligible contenders for the awards include films released in theatres or streaming in Toronto in 2024 as well as films that qualify for the 2024 Academy Awards and Canadian Screen Awards and have a Toronto release scheduled by the end of March 2025. Winners previously announced include Nickel Boys, Flow, All We Imagine as Light, and Dahomey.