The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television has named its batch of 2023 film and TV winners ahead of Sunday night’s broadcast of the Canadian Screen Awards on CBC and CBC Gem. During the weeklong celebration, which was broken up over four days, “The Porter” and “Brother” emerged with the most victories in their respective TV and film categories.
“Brother” had 13 nominations heading into Thursday night’s film celebrations and triumphed in 12 categories — including best motion picture. Clement Virgo also picked up wins for directing and adapted screenplay, while Lamar Johnson won for performance in a leading role and Aaron Pierre won for performance in a supporting role.
The film is based on David Chariandy’s prize-winning novel of the same name and made its world debut this past September at the Toronto International Film Festival. “Brother” revolves around the sons of Caribbean immigrants as they come of age during Toronto’s 1990s hip-hop scene.
On Friday night during the Comedic & Dramatic Arts Awards portion of the week, “The Porter” won 12 of its 19 nominations, including best drama series, best writing in a drama series, and best costume design. Alfre Woodard also nabbed the award for best guest performance in a drama series, the show’s sole acting win. Hamza Haq of “Transplant” took home the award for best lead performer in a drama series (the CSAs introduced gender-neutral acting categories this year).
“The Porter,” a series based on true events that traced the experience of Black train porters in 1920s Montreal, was the most-nominated project heading into the 2023 CSAs following its initial eight-episode season on CBC and BET+. The day following the nominations, the show was cancelled after BET+ pulled its funding and CBC was unable to secure another partner.
On the comedy side, the CBC and HBO Max series “Sort Of” picked up seven wins, including best comedy series, best writing and best lead performer for Bilal Baig. Amanda Brugel (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) also picked up a win for best guest performance in a comedy.
Meanwhile, Ennis Esmer took home a comedy win for his supporting role in CTV’s “Children Ruin Everything” and Christopher Plummer posthumously won for his supporting work in the Global drama “Departures.”
Other notable winners included Corus’s “BLK: An Origin Story” and Crave’s “We’re All Gonna Die (Even Jay Baruchel),” which picked up five and four respective wins in the News, Documentary & Factual category. Crave’s “Canada’s Drag Race,” meanwhile, sashayed away with six wins under the Lifestyle & Reality banner.
The vast majority of the Canadian Screen Awards were presented from April 11 to 14. When Samantha Bee hosts the April 16 broadcast show, the industry comes together to celebrate and highlight the past year in film and television. The broadcast includes exclusive interviews with special award recipients as well as highlights from throughout the week. This year’s Audience Choice Award winner will also be revealed during the show.