SUDBURY – On Saturday evening, Music and Film in Motion (MFM) announced the winners of the 2012 Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards at one of the North’s most anticipated annual events.
This year’s ceremony featured host Survivorman Les Stroud, performances from this year’s music nominees including Sault Ste Marie’s Kalle Mattson and Sudbury’s Faye Blais among others, film clips such as “Dave vs. Death” by Thunder Bay’s Heather K. Dahlstrom, and a gala reception ended the evening in the Great Hall at Laurentian University.
Thunder Bay’s Dave Clement won Cinematographer of the Year. Dave is founder and co-owner of Thunderstone Pictures and directs, shoots and edits his own work as well as collaborating with others on larger productions. He has produced and directed several award-winning drama and documentary films. Combining vivid cinematography with a knack for filming in rugged locations and the rigours of remote expedition logistics, Dave has quickly established himself as one of Canada’s truly talented Northern filmmakers.
The film ‘Return to Manomin‘ is the film effort that won Clement the honour.
Realizing they are only a few years away from the complete loss of an ancient tradition, four generations of a family struggle to return to their traditional wild rice lake. Guided by the spirits of her Grandmothers and the wisdom of her aging uncle, filmmaker Michelle Derosier attempts to revive her family’s annual Manomin (wild rice) harvest with hopes of passing on the teachings of her ancestors to her children and grandchildren. This verité-style documentary shot deep in the forests of Northwestern Ontario is about the spiritual connection to the land that defines the Anishinabek and how it can be maintained while living in an ever-changing world.
“This film could be about any Anishinabek family. We belong to these quiet little places tucked away all over the Boreal forest. This is where our ancestors are, this is where our own spirits find what they need to heal from the affects of a historical legacy of being torn away from family, from traditions and the places that bind all these things together. Imagine how many of these places have been lost due to industrial activity. Imagine how many are threatened and what that could mean to whole families and communities,” says Michelle Derosier, Director.
The Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards were created as a means of recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of Northern Ontario artists in the music and film industries.
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Photo credit Helene Trudel – The Thunder Bay crew at the awards.
The 2012 Northern Ontario Music and Film Award Winners are:
ALBUM OF THE YEAR BY A SOLO ARTIST
Winner: Cindy Doire – Sticks and Mud
Nominees: Angele Desbois – Singularity; Sunday Wilde – What man? Oh THAT man!!!
ALBUM OF THE YEAR BY A DUO OR GROUP
Winner: Kalle Mattson – Anchors
Nominees: Faraway Neighbours – Carry On, Man; Ox – tUCo
SOCAN SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Kalle Mattson – Singing Knives
Nominees: Cindy Doire – Don’t Let The Bastards Bring You Down; Angela Evans – Still Hope
VOCAL PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Winner: Faye Blais – The Ways That I Love You
Nominees: Jean-Paul De Roover – Fix; Cindy Doire – Too Long
ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Faraway Neighbours (for Carry On, Man by Faraway Neighbours)
Nominees: Chris Dorota (for Pitch Pipes by Jean-Paul De Roover); Shawn Sasyniuk (for All Is Not Lost by Cody Allen)
FILM OF THE YEAR
Winner: Heather K. Dahlstrom – Dave vs. Death
Nominees: Joseph Mansourian – Every Emotion Costs; John Alden Milne – The Standoff
DIRECTOR’S GUILD OF CANADA – ONTARIO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Winner: David Lickley and Rob Gagne – Wildfires! A 4D Firefighting Adventure
Nominees: John Alden Milne – The Standoff; Darlene Naponse – Every Emotion Costs
FILM EDITOR OF THE YEAR
Winner: James Lahti – Wildfires! A 4D Firefighting Adventure
Nominees: John Alden Milne – The Standoff; Piotr Skowronski – Jean-Paul De Roover’s “You”
CINEMATOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Dave Clement – Return To Manomin
Nominees:Ben Bruhmuller – Angel Of Death 1883; Damien Gilbert – Wax Philosophic’s “Devil In A Red Dress”
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Winners: Lee Chambers – Hugh Jackman Saves The World
Nominees: Darlene Naponse – Every Emotion Costs; Brad Stephenson – After The Fire