For many, the Oscars are the last stop of awards season. Up here in Canada though, the highest awards that the Canadian Academy gives out are being awarded this coming Sunday, April 10th. Canada produces a ton of great movies each year, and 2021 was no different.
Presented here is a list of all the nominees for Best Original and Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Actor and Actress, Best Director, The John Dunning Best First Feature Award, and Best Picture, along with where you can buy, rent, or stream them.
Fair warning that as of this writing not all of the films have been released. Also, while they aren’t all listed here, there are some great nominees in the remaining categories.
Ed. Note: Yes, the streaming links are affiliate links, and we may receive commissions when you click. These links are powered by JustWatch and update as availability changes, so please check back later if you don’t see one! If you do not see the links, please consider turning off your adblocker or safe-listing this site.
Charlotte
An account of German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon living in the south of France between 1941 and 1943.
Nominations
- Best Adapted Screenplay, Erik Rutherford & David Bezmozgis
streaming links
Confessions of a Hitman
This is the incredible true story of a paid assassin who worked for the biker gangs of Quebec. Seemingly dull-witted, this stuttering “average Joe” outsmarted police and the criminal underground for decades, committing 28 ‘hits’ in 25 years and while simultaneously turning informant when convenient. Living a very conventional lower-middle-class life with a deeply religious wife, no one would have suspected this very nondescript man of being Canada’s most successful professional assassin.
Previous Coverage
Nominations
- Best Supporting Actor, David La Haye
- Best Adapted Screenplay, Sylvain Guy
Streaming Links
Drunken Birds / Les Oiseau Ivres
Willy’s quest to find his long-lost love has brought him from Mexico to Montréal, as a seasonal worker. Destinies intersect, moments of magic realism arise, worlds collide, and tensions swell amidst the long days of physical labor.
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Supporting Actor, Claude Legault
- Best Supporting Actress, Marine Johnson
Streaming Links
Islands
Joshua, a shy middle-aged Filipino immigrant, has lived in the comfort of his parents’ home his entire life. As their health declines he longs for a partner, terrified of being alone after they pass.
Nominations
- Best Actor, Rogelio Balagtas
- Best Supporting Actor, Esteban Comilang
- John Dunning Best First Feature, Martin Edralin
Streaming Links
Learn to Swim
Two contemporary jazz musicians develop a stormy and tragic romance.
Nominations
- Best Actor, Thomas Antony Olajide
Streaming Links
Lune
A daughter must navigate the impacts of her mom’s bipolar disorder.
Nominations
- Best Actress, Aviva Armour-Ostroff
Streaming Links
Night of the Kings / La Nuit des Rois
A young man is sent to “La Maca,” a prison in the middle of the Ivorian forest ruled by its inmates. As tradition goes with the rising of the red moon, he is designated by the Boss to be the new “Roman” and must tell a story to the other prisoners. Learning what fate awaits him, he begins to narrate the mystical life of the legendary outlaw named “Zama King” and has no choice but to make his story last until dawn.
Nominations
- Best Picture
Streaming Links
Night Raiders
The year is 2043. A military occupation controls disenfranchised cities in post-war North America. Children are property of the State. A desperate Cree woman joins an underground band of vigilantes to infiltrate a State children’s academy and get her daughter back. Night Raiders is a female-driven dystopian drama about resilience, courage and love.
Previous Coverage
- VIFF ’21 Review: ‘Night Raiders’ draws on Canada’s dark past to imagine a dark future
- VIFF ’21 Interview: Danis Goulet on her film ‘Night Raiders’
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Director, Danis Goulet
- Best Actress, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
- Best Supporting Actress, Gail Maurice
- Best Original Screenplay, Danis Goulet
- John Dunning Best First Feature, Danis Goulet
Streaming Links
The Noise of Engines / Le Bruit des Moteurs
Alexandre, an instructor at the Canadian customs college, will finds himself under surveillance by police investigators trying to get to the bottom of the sexually explicit drawings that have been troubling the town.
Previous Coverage
Nominations
- Best Director, Philippe Grégoire
- Best Supporting Actress, Tanja Björk
- John Dunning Best First Feature, Philippe Grégoire
Streaming Links
The Righteous
A burdened man feels the wrath of a vengeful God after he and his wife are visited by a mysterious stranger.
Previous Coverage
- Fantasia ’21 Review: ‘The Righteous’ brings together faith, guilt, and excellent performances
- Matt’s ‘Best of the Rest’ of 2021
Nominations
- Best Supporting Actor, Mark O’Brien
- Best Supporting Actress, Kate Corbett
- Best Original Screenplay, Mark O’Brien
Streaming Links
Range Roads
When her parents are killed in a sudden car accident, television actor Frankie King (Alana Hawley Purvis) returns to her hometown in rural Alberta to face this tragedy after being estranged from her family for 20 years
Nominations
- Best Actress, Alana Hawley Purvis
Streaming Links
Scarborough
Three children become friends while living in a low-income neighborhood.
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Director, Sasha Nakhai & Rich Williamson
- Best Actor, Liam Diaz
- Best Actress, Aliya Kanani
- Best Supporting Actress, Cherish Violet Blood
- Best Adapted Screenplay, Catherine Hernandez
- John Dunning Best First Feature, Sasha Nakhai & Rich Williamson
Streaming Links
The Time Thief / L’Arracheuse de Temps
In 1988, in Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, an eleven years old boy is worried for his grandmother’s life. Worn out by illness, the old storyteller tries to convince her grandson that the Death no longer exists. Her story will bring back to life the extraordinary people from the village in 1927 who, by using rocambolesque tricks, will eliminate the Death that threatens them. From now on, death will coincide with the birth of legends.
Nominations
- Best Adapted Screenplay, Fred Pellerin
Streaming Links
Wildhood
Link and his brother flee their abusive father and embark on a journey where Link discovers his sexuality and rediscovers his Mi’kmaw heritage.
Previous Coverage
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Director, Bretten Hannam
- Best Actor, Phillip Lewitski
- Best Supporting Actor, Joshua Odjick
- Best Original Screenplay, Bretten Hannam
Streaming Links
Without Havana / Sin la Habana
At the urging of his girlfriend, a frustrated Afro-Cuban ballet dancer seduces a lonely Iranian-Canadian divorcee to secure passage from Cuba to Canada, where he plans to reunite with his girlfriend.
Nominations
- Best Original Screenplay, Kaveh Nabatian
- John Dunning Best First Feature, Kaveh Nabatian
Streaming Links
The White Fortress / Tajiba
When a chance encounter brings together two teens from opposite sides of life in post-war Sarajevo, a blossoming romance conceals their desperate and disturbing motives.
Previous Coverage
Nominations
- Best Actor, Pavle Čemerikić
- Best Original Screenplay, Igor Drljaca
Streaming Links
You Will Remember Me / Tu Te Souviendras de Moi
The story of a growing friendship between a retired professor who is loosing his memory and his caregiver who finds meaning to her life.
Previous Coverage
- WFF Review: ‘You Will Remember Me’ is a heartbreaking story anchored by a fantastic central performance
- Matt’s Favourite Films & Performers of 2020
Nominations
- Best Adapted Screenplay, Éric Tessier
Streaming Links
That is a pretty great lineup of nominees. It’s a shame that not all of them are readily available at the time of writing but all of them are worthy additions to your watch list and these streaming links will update as availability changes in Canada, the US, and the UK.
Scarborough and Night Raiders are the films to beat this year. With a staggering 11 nominations each they are definitely to you will want to prioritize.
Now go get caught up!
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