“Maudie” and “Alias Grace” Win Big at 2018 Canadian Screen Awards
Women dominated Sunday night’s Canadian Screen Awards. Not only did female-led projects “Maudie,” “Alias Grace,” “Anne With an E,” and “Baroness von Sketch Show” sweep the major categories, women won the trophies for best director and best original and adapted screenplays, per the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
“Maudie,” Aisling Walsh’s biopic about folk artist Maud Lewis, took home best motion picture, best director (Walsh), best actress (Sally Hawkins) best original screenplay (Sherry White), and best costume design (Trysha Bakker), among other awards.
“Alias Grace,” the Netflix/CBC miniseries adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel about real-life convicted murderess Grace Marks, won best limited series and best lead actress in a limited series (Sarah Gadon). Atwood herself was honored with a special award, the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute.
“Anne With an E,” another Netflix/CBC literary adaptation, also fared very well. The show, based on L.M. Montgomery’s “Anne of Green Gables” novels, was named best drama series.
CBC’s “Baroness von Sketch Show,” which airs on IFC in the States, won best performance, sketch comedy. The feminist sketch series was created by writer-performers Meredith MacNeill, Carolyn Taylor, Aurora Browne, and Jennifer Whalen.
Other big winners were “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World,” a doc co-directed by Catherine Bainbridge, and Nora Twomey’s “The Breadwinner.” The former is an exploration of the pivotal role Native Americans played in music history and was honored with the Ted Rogers Best Feature Length Documentary award. The latter, an animated feature about a young Afghani woman who dresses as a boy to provide for her family, took home best adapted screenplay (Anita Doron). “Ava,” Sadaf Foroughi’s coming-of-age tale, was named best first feature.
Head over to the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s website to check out all the the 2018 Canadian Screen Award winners.
