Night Raiders, Scarborough emerge victorious at 5th night of Canadian Screen Awards

Night Raiders and Scarborough, two of the most acclaimed films to emerge from Canadian cinema this year, have each won five awards on the fifth evening of the Canadian Screen Awards. 

The awards, which are administered by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to celebrate excellence in film, television and digital media, have been ongoing since Monday. The week-long affair will conclude on Sunday evening with a televised awards ceremony.

Earlier this week, nominees in the broadcast news, documentary, sports programming, digital and immersive media, children's and animation, lifestyle and reality, and drama and comedy crafts and scripted programs and performances categories received accolades for their work.

During Friday's event, nominees were recognized for their achievements in the cinematic arts.

Night Raiders is a high-pulse, dystopian thriller set in a future world where Indigenous children are stolen from their families and placed under the care of a military state. The film marked the directorial debut of Cree-Métis filmmaker Danis Goulet, who received the award for best original screenplay.

The film made its mark in the technical categories. For achievement in costume design, Night Raiders' Kendra Terpenning took home the award. Lou Solakofski, Graham Rogers, Stephen Marian, Alexis Feodoroff and Tim Chaproniere won for achievement in sound mixing. Martin Tori, John Mariella, Frank Rueter, Darwin Go received accolades for their visual effects work, and Traci Loader won the award for achievement in make-up.

WATCH | The trailer for Danis Goulet's acclaimed dystopian thriller, Night Raiders:

Scarborough's directors Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson won the John Dunning award for best first feature film. The movie, which is adapted from the bestselling novel by Catherine Hernandez, tells the story of three kids in an underserved Toronto community who bond while struggling amid their difficult circumstances. Hernandez won for best adapted screenplay.

Nakhai and Williamson also won for achievement in casting, and their efforts paid off. Cherish Violet Blood, for her role as Marie (the mother of protagonist Sylvie), received the award for performance by an actress in a supporting role. The film's sound editing team, Krystin Hunter, Paul Germann and Stefana Fratila, also scored a prize for their work.

WATCH | The trailer for Scarborough, adapted from Catherine Hernandez's novel:

All My Puny Sorrows, based on Miriam Toews' poignant novel about two sisters who leave their Mennonite community, was the only film besides Night Raiders and Scarborough to win more than a single award. Jonathan Goldsmith's original score received a prize for achievement in music, while Michelle Szemberg and Orlee Bulum won for achievement in editing.

For the third year in a row, the Canadian Screen Awards will be presented virtually. A capstone ceremony will air Sunday on CBC-TV and CBC Gem.

The remaining winners:

For a complete list of winners from this week's Canadian Screen Awards, visit academy.ca.