Canadian Screen Awards 2018

I appreciate that Canada didn't try to block non-Canadian viewers from the ceremony, which made it easier, naturally. 

This time around, Emma Hunter and Jonny Harris hosted the Canadian Screen Awards, two individuals who I am unfamiliar with. This set the tone for a program in which I was uninformed. Honestly, I watched most of this while jumping rope.

There was a spirit of civil progress at this event, like the Oscars, but it was focused less on women, and shifted more to indigenous cultures and peoples overall. 

I was intrigued by one show starring Caroline Dhavernas of Hannibal, Mary Kills People (that said, don't hold your breath). 

There were a few interesting lifetime achievement awards, first was the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute Award, which went to Margaret Atwood the writer. This year her works were the inspiration behind two top series: The Handmaid’s Tale and Alias Grace (winner of this year’s Best Limited Series or Program).

Second was the Earle Grey Award for Clark Johnson, an actor who specializes in street tough, street smart roles, notably The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Street.

My favorite part of the ceremony was the awarding of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Peter Mansbridge. Peter Mansbridge is a news anchor. I never heard of him before, but I enjoyed hearing his voice over various news footage. The first video below is my own, ripped-from-the-live-stream clip of the tribute package. The second video is the high quality, official Canadian Screen Awards video of the speech.

         

 

If the Oscars ceremony was underwhelming, the Canadian Screen Awards convinced me just how not American Canada really is. There was very little overlap in the nominations. 

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

Here comes dangerous territory. Before the actual ceremony, I saw on my Instagram feed that A MacDonald won Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Series for Cardinal. This was not featured in the main broadcast, unfortunately, but there is a social media record to dig into.