Reelworld Award of Excellence
Damon D’Oliveira
Producer, Conquering Lion Pictures
Damon is a veteran producer responsible for bringing to screen some of Canada’s most critically and commercially successful films and television (BROTHER, THE GRIZZLIES, THE BOOK OF NEGROES, RUDE and STEAL AWAY). An early champion of diversity, Damon's career focus has been on producing content that centred underrepresented, racialized and LGBTQIA2S+ voices. His latest film, STEAL AWAY, had its world premiere at TIFF in 2025. In 2022, BROTHER world premiered at TIFF to strong critical acclaim and played BFI London, Busan and Sao Paulo. It won 2 NAACP Awards for Best International Film and Best Independent Film, as well as 12 Canadian Screen Awards.
Damon’s miniseries adaptation of THE BOOK OF NEGROES, the best-selling novel by Lawrence Hill (and Canada Reads Prize-winner) debuted to historic ratings on the CBC in January 2015, marking a twenty-five year high for a one-hour drama premiere. Its US premiere also drew landmark ratings for BET Networks. The series stars Oscar-winner© Louis Gossett Jr., along with Oscar © Nominee, Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard, The Help), Ben Chaplin and 3-time Oscar© nominee – Jane Alexander. To date, the miniseries has won 12 Canadian Screen Awards, earned two nominations for U.S. Critic’s Choice Television Awards, an NAACP Award and was a finalist for the prestigious 2016 Peabody Award.
A recent member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Damon is also the Chair Emeritus of the CMPA. He was the inaugural winner of TIFF’s Amplify Voices BIPOC & Canadian Trailblazer Award in 2023.
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The Reelworld Award of Excellence honours individuals whose decades of creative excellence in film and series have led to more authentic stories being told on screen, inspiring new generations of young artists in the process. In the past, this award has honoured writers, directors, producers and actors such as Jennifer Podemski, Clement Virgo, Graham Greene and Mina Shum.