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The
third annual Don Haig Award of $10,000 was presented
to Montreal filmmaker Guylaine Dionne (Les fantômes
des trois Madeleine) during the closing awards
ceremony of the 13th annual Hot Docs Festival in Toronto.
Also
honoured was Winnipeg director Sean Garrity (Lucid)
who received a Special Jury Prize of $5,000, courtesy
of Montreal distributor Films Transit.
As
part of the presentation, a video clip from "A
Life in Film", a tribute to Don Haig was shown.
In it, Don talked about his experience helping filmmakers
and running "my own Telefilm at Film Arts."
Award
presenter Brigitte Berman who worked with Don on two
feature-length documentaries including the Academy
Award winner Artie Shaw - Time Is All You've Got
recalled that, "without Don, Artie Shaw
would never have been made. I'm sure that many other
Canadian filmmakers feel exactly the same way."
Guylaine
Dionne has won a number of awards both for her television
documentary work and her fiction films. Her first
feature Les fantômes des trois Madeleine (The
Three Madeleines) had its world premiere in 2000
at the Directors' Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival
and went on to win prizes around the world. She is
currently working on Serveuses demandées, a
feature-length drama slated for shooting in early
2007.
Speaking
of the award, Guylaine commented, "I feel profoundly
honored for this recognition, knowing how important
Don Haig's role has been in helping Canadian filmmakers
and giving them a chance to pursue their careers under
his mentorship."
Sean
Garrity's first feature INerTia was named Best
First Feature at the 2001 Toronto International Film
Festival and netted him the Best Director award at
the 2001 FilmCan Festival. His second feature film
Lucid played at the 2005 Toronto International
Film Festival in the Contemporary World Cinema program.
As well as feature films, Sean has directed a number
of documentaries and shorts.
The
Don Haig Award award was established in 2002 by Don's
life companion Bill Schultz, his family, colleagues,
and the filmmakers he so vigorously supported. Don
was a major force in Canadian independent films, known
affectionately as the "godfather" of Canadian
film. The award is a tribute to the "give back"
spirit of Don and is given to an "emerging"
filmmaker whose work bridges the world of documentaries
and fiction.
This
was the first year that the award was presented in
partnership with Hot Docs.
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