The DGC Allan King Award for Best Documentary Film is an annual Canadian award, presented by the Directors Guild of Canada to honour the year's best direction in documentary films in Canada. The award was renamed in 2010 to honour influential Canadian documentarian Allan King following his death in 2009. Individual episodes of documentary television series have occasionally been nominated for the award, although nominees and winners are usually theatrical documentary films.
Winners and nominees
2000s Year Film Director Ref 2002 Nuliajuk: Mother of the Sea Beasts John Houston Peter Vamos, "Rare Birds tops at DGC". Playback, October 14, 2002. Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science: "Blast" Harvey Crossland Joshua Slocum: Around Alone Peter Rowe Tokyo Girls Penelope Buitenhuis 2003 Prisoner of Paradise Malcolm Clarke "Spider, Degrassi, Trudeau win at DGC". Playback, October 13, 2003. Death of a Warrior Manfred Becker Distin Dinoff, "Spider, Queer as Folk top DGC nominations". Playback, August 18, 2003. Mob Stories: "Rocco Perri, King of the Bootleggers" Mitchell Gabourie Samuel Cunard: Bridging the Atlantic Peter Rowe 2004 Dying at Grace Allan King "Arcand, Turner among winners at Directors Guild fete". Playback, October 11, 2004. The Invisible Machine Barbara Doran Neighbours Manfred Becker The World Stopped Watching Peter Raymont 2005 Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire Peter Raymont Wyndham Wise, "Peter Raymont". The Canadian Encyclopedia, May 15, 2007. Continuous Journey Ali Kazimi Popcorn with Maple Syrup Peter Rowe The Siege Manfred Becker 2006 Turning Points of History: "Hitler's Children"| Manfred Becker| "David Cronenberg sweeps Directors Guild of Canada awards". CBC Arts, October 15, 2006. |- | Ken Leishman: The Flying Bandit | Norma Bailey | rowspan=3| |- | Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company | Allan King |- | Runaway Grooms | Ali Kazimi |- | rowspan="5" align="center"| 2007 |- style="background:#FAEB86" | Sharkwater Rob Stewart "'Away From Her' takes best picture at Guild Awards". CTV News, September 30, 2007. EMPz 4 Life Allan King "Bon Cop, Away From Her to vie for film directing honours". CBC Arts, August 13, 2007. Killer's Paradise Giselle Portenier Recreating Eden Elise Swerhone 2008 A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman Peter Raymont Fatherland Manfred Becker Etan Vlessing, "Cronenberg, Podeswa lead DGCs". Playback, August 11, 2008. Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking Bill Spachic Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma Patrick Reed 2009 Air India 182 Sturla Gunnarsson Etan Vlessing, "Skogland on top at DGCs". Playback, October 23, 2009. James Houston: The Most Interesting Group of People You'll Ever Meet John Houston "Passchendaele leads directors guild award nominations". CBC News, August 4, 2009. Malls R Us Helene Klodawsky Prom Night in Mississippi Paul Saltzman
2010s Year Film Director Ref 2010 The Experimental Eskimos Barry Greenwald "Cairo Time, CBC big winners at directors' awards". CBC News, September 26, 2010. Ballet High Elise Swerhone Marise Strauss, "DGC nods for Chloe, Bridge". Playback, July 8, 2010. Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould Peter Raymont, Michèle Hozer Love Letters Tim Southam 2011 Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie Sturla Gunnarsson "Barney's Version, John A lead winners at Directors Guild Awards". CBC News, October 31, 2011. The Nature of Things: "One Ocean: The Birth of an Ocean" Mike Downie "2011 Directors Guild of Canada Awards Nominees Announced". Canada NewsWire, August 15, 2011 Paul Quarrington: Life in Music Bert Kish Where Did I Put ... My Memory? Barbara Doran 2012 West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson Peter Raymont Desert Riders Vic Sarin Barry Walsh, "Four docs up for DGC Allan King award". RealScreen, July 13, 2012. Peace Out Charles Wilkinson Wiebo's War David York 2013 Stories We Tell Sarah Polley Linda Barnard, "Michael McGowan takes Directors Guild of Canada prize for Still Mine". Toronto Star, October 26, 2013. Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children Peter Raymont Pat Mullen, "'Still Mine', 'Mama' Lead Directors Guild of Canada Nominations". Cinemablographer, July 11, 2013. Playing a Dangerous Game John Walker Vanishing Point Stephen A. Smith, Julia Szucs 2014 Watermark Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky "The Directors Guild of Canada Honours the Best in the Business at the 13th Annual DGC Awards". Canada NewsWire, October 25, 2014. Arctic Defenders John Walker "2014 Directors Guild of Canada Awards nominees announced". Directors Guild of Canada, June 19, 2014. Chi Anne Wheeler Secretariat's Jockey: Ron Turcotte Phil Comeau 2015 Super Duper Alice Cooper Reginald Harkema Jordan Pinto, "Book of Negroes, Mommy win top prizes at DGC Awards". Playback, October 25, 2015. Monsoon Sturla Gunnarsson Pat Mullen, "'The Calling' Leads Directors Guild of Canada Nominations". Cinemablographer, June 18, 2015. Shameless Propaganda Robert Lower The Boy From Geita Vic Sarin 2016 Guantanamo's Child: Omar Khadr Patrick Reed, Michelle Shephard Barry Hertz, "Paul Gross takes top film honours at Directors Guild of Canada Awards". The Globe and Mail, October 22, 2016. Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World Charles Wilkinson Ninth Floor Mina Shum Regan Reid, "DGC names nominees for 2016 awards". Playback, June 22, 2016. Painted Land: In Search of the Group of Seven Phyllis Ellis 2017 All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception and the Spirit of I. F. Stone Fred Peabody Jordan Pinto, "Vikings, Mary Kills People win at DGC Awards". Playback, October 30, 2017. The Apology Tiffany Hsiung Greg David, "2017 Directors Guild of Canada awards nominees announced". TV, eh?, June 26, 2017. Gun Runners Anjali Nayar Quebec My Country Mon Pays John Walker 2018 Long Time Running Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier Connie Thiessen, "The Shape of Water, Alias Grace win big at DGC Awards". Broadcast Dialogue, October 22, 2018. Gift Robin McKenna Connie Thiessen, "Vic Sarin to receive 2018 DGC Lifetime Achievement Award". Broadcast Dialogue, September 20, 2018. Silas Anjali Nayar Unarmed Verses Charles Officer What Walaa Wants Christy Garland 2019 Anthropocene: The Human Epoch Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Edward Burtynsky "Directors Guild of Canada names best homegrown films and TV shows". Q, October 28, 2019. Atautsikut: Leaving None Behind John Houston Connie Thiessen, "Jasmin Mozaffari's Firecrackers leads DGC Award nominations". Broadcast Dialogue, September 12, 2019. Killing Patient Zero Laurie Lynd Prey Matt Gallagher The Stone Speakers Igor Drljaca
2020s Year Film Director Ref 2020 Inconvenient Indian Michelle Latimer Lauren Malyk, "Michelle Latimer, Vincenzo Natali among DGC film winners". Playback, October 28, 2020. The Bull (El Toro) Danielle Sturk "Directors Guild of Canada reveals feature, doc and short film nods". RealScreen, September 22, 2020. Haida Modern Charles Wilkinson High Wire Claude Guilmain, Christian Langlois This Is Not a Movie Yung Chang 2021 Wuhan Wuhan Yung Chang Nick Krewen, "Directors Guild of Canada reveals feature, doc and short film winners". Playback, October 25, 2021. In the Rumbling Belly of Motherland Brishkay Ahmed Kelly Townsend, "All My Puny Sorrows leads film nominees for 2021 DGC Awards". Playback, September 24, 2021. No Ordinary Man Chase Joynt, Aisling Chin-Yee The Silence (Le Silence) Renée Blanchar Someone Like Me Sean Horlor, Steve J. Adams Stateless Michèle Stephenson 2022 Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On Madison Thomas Angelica Babiera, "David Cronenberg, Charles Officer among DGC award winners". Playback, November 7, 2022. Cliff: A Portrait of an Artist Adam Brooks Etan Vlessing, "DGC Awards: 'Nightmare Alley,' 'Crimes of the Future,' 'Night Raiders' Lead Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter, September 23, 2022. Don't Come Searching Andrew Moir Framing Agnes Chase Joynt Handle With Care: The Legend of the Notic Streetball Crew Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children Barri Cohen 2023 To Kill a Tiger Nisha Pahuja Connie Thiessen, "‘Women Talking’ leads winners at 22nd annual DGC Awards". Broadcast Dialogue, October 22, 2023. Batata Noura Kevorkian Taimur Sikander Mirza, "Women Talking leads film nominees for 2023 DGC Awards". Playback, September 20, 2023. Category: Woman Phyllis Ellis Someone Lives Here Zack Russell WaaPaKe Jules Arita Koostachin 2024 Swan Song Chelsea McMullan Alex Nino Gheciu, "‘Queen of My Dreams,’ ‘We Forgot to Break Up’ tie for top Directors Guild award". Brandon Sun, October 28, 2024. Adrianne and the Castle Shannon Walsh Connie Thiessen, "Sweet Angel Baby leads DGC Awards’ film nominations". Broadcast Dialogue, September 20, 2024. Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee Disco's Revenge Omar Majeed, Peter Mishara A Quiet Girl Adrian Wills An Unfinished Journey Aeyliya Husain, Amie Williams 2025 A Mother Apart Laurie Townshend Jamie Casemore, "North of North claims five honours at 2025 DGC Awards". Playback, November 10, 2025. Endless Cookie Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver Connie Thiessen, "DGC unveils film, doc nominees; Discovery Award short list". Broadcast Dialogue, September 22, 2025. Goddess of Slide Alfonso Maiorana King Arthur's Night John Bolton The Stand Christopher Auchter 2026 Beautiful Phyllis Ellis Connie Thiessen, "2026 DGC Awards film nominees led by ‘Ready or Not 2’". Broadcast Dialogue, September 29, 2026. Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story Kate Kroll Nuisance Bear Jack Weisman, Gabriela Osio Vanden The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs and Who Has Control Aisling Chin-Yee There Are No Words Min Sook Lee
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