The John Dunning Best First Feature Award is a special Canadian film award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the year's best feature film by a first-time film director. Under the earlier names Claude Jutra Award and Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature, the award has been presented since the 14th Genie Awards in 1993.Paul Townend, "Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature". The Canadian Encyclopedia, March 7, 2010.
Formerly a juried prize whose winner was announced in advance of the ceremony, the award is now presented as a conventional category with a full shortlist of nominees.
To date six films, The Confessional (Le Confessionnal), Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, Away from Her, A Colony (Une colonie), Beans and Scarborough, have won both the Best First Feature and Best Picture awards in the same year; the directors of Le Confessionnal, Atanarjuat, Away from Her and Scarborough also won the award for Best Director for the same films.
Under current Academy rules introduced in 2024, the category has six nominees each year if the number of eligible submissions exceeds nine, but remains at five nominees if less than nine submissions are received."Rules and Regulation Change Highlights". Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, August 2023.
History
The award was originally named in memory of Claude Jutra, a Canadian film director who died in 1986.Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 199-203. Formerly part of the Genie Awards ceremonies, the Claude Jutra Award was transitioned to be part of the new Canadian Screen Awards in 2013.
Following the February 2016 publication of Yves Lever's biography of Jutra, which contained allegations that Jutra had sexually abused underage children during his lifetime, the Academy announced that it was removing Jutra's name from the award."Claude Jutra's name to be pulled from Quebec film awards" . Ottawa Citizen, February 17, 2016. Québec Cinéma also removed Jutra's name from its Prix Jutra ceremonies on the same day.
Beginning with the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016, the award was presented as the Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature. In the same year the John Dunning Discovery Award, named in memory of film producer John Dunning, was introduced to honour microbudget films. Initially it was a separate award from the Best First Feature category, with the two awards presented alongside each other to different films,"Canadian Screen Awards leave Hollywood behind". The Globe and Mail, January 16, 2018. until the two awards were merged under the John Dunning Best First Feature Award name beginning with the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019.
Winners
Claude Jutra Award YearFilmDirectorRef 199314th Genie Awards The Grocer's Wife John Pozer 199415th Genie Awards Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes) Michel Poulette 199516th Genie Awards The Confessional (Le Confessionnal) Robert Lepage 199617th Genie Awards Joe's So Mean to Josephine Peter Wellington 199718th Genie Awards The Hanging Garden Thom Fitzgerald 199819th Genie Awards Last Night Don McKellar 199920th Genie Awards Post Mortem Louis Bélanger 200021st Genie Awards The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge (La Moitié gauche du frigo) Philippe Falardeau 200122nd Genie Awards Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner Zacharias Kunuk 200223rd Genie Awards Flower & Garnet Keith Behrman 200324th Genie Awards How My Mother Gave Birth to Me During Menopause (Comment ma mère accoucha de moi durant sa ménopause) Sébastien Rose 200425th Genie Awards White Skin (La Peau blanche) Daniel Roby 200526th Genie Awards Familia Louise Archambault 200627th Genie Awards Eve and the Fire Horse Julia Kwan The Secret Life of Happy People (La Vie secrète des gens heureux) Stéphane Lapointe 200728th Genie Awards Away from Her Sarah Polley 200829th Genie Awards Everything Is Fine (Tout est parfait) Yves Christian Fournier 200930th Genie Awards I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) Xavier Dolan 201031st Genie Awards Exit 67 (Sortie 67) Jephté Bastien "Incendies, Barney's Version dominate Genies". CBC News, March 10, 2011. 201132nd Genie Awards Nuit #1 Anne Émond "Quebec's Anne Émond wins debut director award". CBC News, February 22, 2012. 20121st Canadian Screen Awards Blackbird Jason Buxton 20132nd Canadian Screen Awards Whitewash Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais 20143rd Canadian Screen Awards Bang Bang Baby Jeffrey St. Jules "Academy Names Claude Jutra Award Winner" . Broadcaster, February 3, 2015.
Best First Feature YearFilmDirectorRef 2015 4th Canadian Screen Awards River Jamie M. Dagg "Jamie M. Dagg wins Claude Jutra Award for Laos-set thriller River". CBC News, February 4, 2016. 2016 5th Canadian Screen Awards Old Stone Johnny Ma "Ma's 'Old Stone' gets Canadian academy's Best First Feature award". CTV News, February 2, 2017. 2017 6th Canadian Screen Awards Ava Sadaf Foroughi "Sadaf Foroughi's 'Ava' wins best first feature film from Canadian Screen Awards". National Post, January 31, 2018.
John Dunning Discovery Award Year Film Director Ref 2015 4th Canadian Screen Awards Mina Walking Yosef Baraki "Mina Walking Honoured with Inaugural Discovery Award". Cision, January 19, 2016. 2016 5th Canadian Screen Awards The Lockpicker Randall Okita "Randall Okita to receive inaugural John Dunning Discovery Award". Playback, January 12, 2017. 2017 6th Canadian Screen Awards Black Cop Cory Bowles "Northern Banner picks up Cory Bowles’ Black Cop". Playback, April 25, 2018. The Devout Connor Gaston Norman Wilner, "The Canadian Screen Awards showers love on (almost) everyone". Now, January 16, 2018. Wexford Plaza Joyce Wong
John Dunning Best First Feature Award Year Film Director Ref 2018 7th Canadian Screen Awards A Colony (Une colonie) Geneviève Dulude-De Celles "Les Québécois remportent plus de la moitié des trophées à l'avant-gala des prix Écrans canadiens". Ici Radio-Canada, March 31, 2019. Family First (Chien de garde) Sophie Dupuis Firecrackers Jasmin Mozaffari The Nest (Le nid) David Paradis Touched Karl R. Hearne 2019 8th Canadian Screen Awards Murmur Heather Young "Filmmaker from Saint John wins Canadian Screen Award". CBC News New Brunswick, June 1, 2020. Black Conflux Nicole Dorsey Norman Wilner, "Canadian Screen Awards 2020: Prepare for a Schitt's show". Now, February 18, 2020. Mad Dog Labine Jonathan Beaulieu-Cyr, Renaud Lessard Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable) Guillaume de Fontenay The Twentieth Century Matthew Rankin 2020 9th Canadian Screen Awards Beans Tracey Deer Naman Ramachandran, "‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Blood Quantum’ Triumph at Canadian Screen Awards". Variety, May 21, 2021. The Kid Detective Evan Morgan Tito Grace Glowicki Vacarme Neegan Trudel Violation Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli 2021 10th Canadian Screen Awards Scarborough Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson "Night Raiders, Scarborough emerge victorious at 5th night of Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, April 8, 2022. Islands Martin Edralin Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022. Night Raiders Danis Goulet The Noise of Engines (Le Bruit des moteurs) Philippe Grégoire Without Havana (Sin la Habana) Kaveh Nabatian 2022 11th Canadian Screen Awards Falcon Lake Charlotte Le Bon Jenna Benchetrit, "Brother dominates with a dozen wins on third night of Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, April 13, 2023. The Maiden Graham Foy Charles-Henri Ramond, "Écrans canadiens – Viking,13 nominations". Films du Québec, February 22, 2023. Noemie Says Yes (Noémie dit oui) Geneviève Albert Rodeo (Rodéo) Joëlle Desjardins Paquette Wolves Danny Dunlop 2023 12th Canadian Screen Awards In Flames Zarrar Kahn Connie Thiessen, "Canadian Screen Awards winners: Cinematic Arts". Broadcast Dialogue, May 30, 2024. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Ariane Louis-Seize "BlackBerry Leads CSA Nominations". Northern Stars, March 6, 2024. Kanaval Henri Pardo Richelieu Pier-Philippe Chevigny Something You Said Last Night Luis De Filippis Through the Night (Quitter la nuit) Delphine Girard 2024 13th Canadian Screen Awards Village Keeper Karen Chapman Jamie Casemore, "CSAs ‘25: Universal Language takes five at Cinematic Arts Awards". Playback, May 31, 2025. Deaner '89 Sam McGlynn Samritha Arunasalam, "Here's who is nominated for the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, March 26, 2025. Hunting Daze (Jour de chasse) Annick Blanc Mongrels Jerome Yoo Seeds Kaniehtiio Horn Who Do I Belong To Meryam Joobeur 2025 14th Canadian Screen Awards 40 Acres R. T. Thorne Jamie Casemore, "CSAs ’26: R.T. Thorne’s 40 Acres leads cinematic arts winners". Playback, May 28, 2026. 100 Sunset Kunsang Kyirong Jackson Weaver, "North of North, Heated Rivalry, 40 Acres lead Canadian Screen Award nominees". CBC News, March 25, 2026. Blue Heron Sophy Romvari Dinner with Friends Sasha Leigh Henry Follies (Folichonneries) Éric K. Boulianne Where Souls Go (Où vont les âmes?) Brigitte Poupart
See also Prix Iris for Best First Film Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film
References