23RD REELWORLD FILM FESTIVAL+SUMMIT AWARDS
Reelworld Film Festival+Summit is proud to present two cash awards: $25,000 for Outstanding Feature Film and $10,000 for Outstanding Short Film. This year’s award sponsors include DGC National, WIFT-Toronto, Entertainment Partners Canada, Chargefield, AstroLab Studios, Lenz Rental and Asian Television Network. Feature and Short award categories this year include Outstanding Actress, Outstanding Actor, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Writer, Outstanding Cinematographer, Outstanding Producer, and Outstanding Film. Audience members are also encouraged to participate and rate the films they watch and contribute to the selection of the Reelworld Audience Choice Award.
INDUSTRY AWARDS
2023 FILM AWARDS JURY
We are pleased to host a competitive film festival with a jury of industry professionals who recognize excellence in Canadian and International film. Thank you to our dedicated jurors.
FEATURE JURORS
Howard Adler
Howard Adler holds a bachelor of arts in Indigenous Studies from Trent University, and a master of arts in Canadian Studies from Carleton University. He is the co-founder/director/programmer for the Asinabka Festival, an annual Indigenous film and media arts festival in Ottawa, Canada.
TJ Cuthand
TJ Cuthand (b. 1978 Regina SK) is an experimental/narrative filmmaker working with topics of sexuality, madness, Indigiqueer/2S identity and Indigeneity, which have screened in festivals and galleries internationally. He is Plains Cree/Scots, a member of Little Pine First Nation, residing in Toronto, Canada.
Pedro Diaz
Pedro Díaz is the director of Churún Merú, and acts as translator for newcomers from Latin America. He has been incessantly looking after the continuous development of the Group since its foundation. He is a well-known member in the Latin-American Community in Canada's National Region Capital. The Group consider it especially important to interpret their rich musical heritage with a high standard of choreographic work.
SHORTS JURORS
David Cormican
David Cormican is an Emmy®-nominated producer. He is Co-Founder and President of Don Carmody Television (DCTV) and Washington Square Entertainment, a co-founder of NFT marketplace and blockchain-based studio Mogul Productions, and a member of the prestigious Producers Guild of America (p.g.a.) and the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC).
Nicole Mendes
Born in Scarborough and bred for a career in the arts (whether her parents want to acknowledge it or not) Nicole Mendes is the VP of Scripted Development at Lark Productions where she oversees strategy and development for the company. Prior to that she spent over a decade at the CBC, Canada’s Public Broadcaster.
Phil Planta
Phil Planta is a BC based filmmaker, film instructor, and VFX artist. He is producer of the indie feature ‘Beyond Redemption’ which sold in over 30 countries, TELUS STORYHIVE’s award winning shorts ‘Akashi’ and ‘Gong Ju’, Crazy8s finalists ‘Gemini’& ‘Parabola, the Harold Greenberg shorts ‘In Loving Memory’ and ‘Duérmete Niño’.