Borsos Competition

The Borsos Competition is the main awards program for Canadian feature films screening at the annual Whistler Film Festival. ^[1] The award is named in memory of Canadian film director Phillip Borsos. ^[2]

Introduced for the first time in 2004, the juried competition presents six awards annually to honour films, actors, screenplays, directors, cinematographers and editors in Canadian cinema. Initially, only films that were having their world premieres at Whistler were eligible for the competition, ^[3] although this requirement was soon dropped as the festival had difficulty attracting entrants who were willing to forego larger film festivals such as TIFF or the FNC, and thereafter films selected for competition only had to be a regional premiere within the Western Canada region.

From the award's inauguration until 2015, six films were selected for competition each year, except in 2012 when eight films competed; in 2015, the festival dropped size limits, and since then the competition has typically included between 10 and 20 films per year.

The festival also presents several other awards, which are not part of the Borsos Competition.

Films in competition

2000s

Year	Film	Director	Ref
2004	The Papal Chase	Kenny Hotz	[4]
	Better Off in Bed	Reginald Harkema	[5]
	Cable Beach	James Head
	Eighteen	Richard Bell
	Part of the Game	Rick Alyea
	Pink Ludoos	Gaurav Seth
2005	Exiles in Lotusland	Ilan Saragosti	[6]
	The End of Silence	Anita Doron	[7]
	Fetching Cody	David Ray
	Love Is Work	John Kalangis
	Six Figures	David Christensen
	The Zero Sum	Raphael Assaf
2006	The Secret Life of Happy People (La vie secrète des gens heureux)	Stéphane Lapointe	[8]
	Immigrant	Bojan Bodružić	[9]
	The Point	Joshua Dorsey
	SK8	S. Wyeth Clarkson
	Steel Toes	David Gow, Mark Adam
	Who Loves the Sun	Matt Bissonnette
	Craft awards:  • Catherine De Léan (The Secret Life of Happy People) and Andrew Walker (Steel Toes), Best Performance		[8]
2007	Continental, a Film Without Guns (Continental, un film sans fusil)	Stéphane Lafleur	[10]
	Amal	Richie Mehta	[11]
	Family Motel	Helene Klodawsky
	Portage	Sascha Drews, Ezra Krybus
	River	Mark Wihak
	Walk All Over Me	Robert Cuffley
	Craft awards:  • Maya Batten-Young (River) and Rupinder Nagra (Amal), Best Performance		[10]
2008	3 Seasons	Jim Donovan	[12]
	The Baby Formula	Alison Reid	[13]
	Before Tomorrow (Le jour avant le lendemain)	Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu
	Girlfriend Experience	Ileana Pietrobruno
	Nurse.Fighter.Boy	Charles Officer
	Who Is KK Downey?	Pat Kiely, Darren Curtis
	Craft awards:  • Clark Johnson (Nurse.Fighter.Boy) and Carinne Leduc (3 Seasons), Best Performance		[12]
2009	Vital Signs (Les Signes vitaux)	Sophie Deraspe	[14]
	Defendor	Peter Stebbings	[15]
	Machotaildrop	Corey Adams, Alex Craig
	Skid Love	Ryan Arnold
	The Wild Hunt	Alexandre Franchi
	Year of the Carnivore	Sook-Yin Lee
	Craft awards:  • Marie-Hélène Bellavance (Vital Signs) and Woody Harrelson (Defendor), Best Performance		[14]

2010s

Year	Film	Director	Ref
2010	The Whistleblower	Larysa Kondracki	[16]
	Good Neighbours	Jacob Tierney	[17]
	Hard Core Logo 2	Bruce McDonald
	Jo for Jonathan (Jo pour Jonathan)	Maxime Giroux
	Small Town Murder Songs	Ed Gass-Donnelly
	Wrecked	Michael Greenspan
	Craft awards:  • Raphaël Lacaille (Jo for Jonathan) and Martha Plimpton (Small Town Murder Songs), Best Performance		[16]
2011	Keyhole	Guy Maddin	[18]
	388 Arletta Avenue	Randall Cole	[19]
	Café de Flore	Jean-Marc Vallée
	Doppelgänger Paul	Dylan Akio Smith, Kris Elgstrand
	Marilyn	Christopher Petry
	Monsieur Lazhar	Philippe Falardeau
	Craft awards: None presented this year.		[18]
2012	Picture Day	Kate Melville	[20]
	All That You Possess (Tout ce que tu possèdes)	Bernard Émond	[21]
	Blood Pressure	Sean Garrity
	Fair Sex (Les Manèges humains)	Martin Laroche
	Home Again	Sudz Sutherland
	Mad Ship	David Mortin
	My Awkward Sexual Adventure	Sean Garrity
	Still Mine	Michael McGowan
	Craft awards:  • Marie-Evelyne Lessard (Fair Sex) and Tatiana Maslany (Picture Day), Best Performance		[20]
2013
	The Husband	Bruce McDonald	[22]
	Cas & Dylan	Jason Priestley	[23]
	Louis Cyr (Louis Cyr, l'homme le plus fort du monde)	Daniel Roby
	Patch Town	Craig Goodwill
	Siddharth	Richie Mehta
	Uvanga	Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu
	Craft awards:  • Tatiana Maslany (Cas & Dylan), Best Performance		[22]
2014	Felix and Meira (Félix et Meira)	Maxime Giroux	[24]
	After the Ball	Sean Garrity	[25]
	Bang Bang Baby	Jeffrey St. Jules
	Mountain Men	Cameron Labine
	Relative Happiness	Deanne Foley
	Wolves	David Hayter
	Craft awards:  • Hadas Yaron (Felix and Meira), Best Performance  • Maxime Giroux (Felix and Meira), Best Director, Best Screenplay		[24]
2015	River	Jamie M. Dagg	[26]
	Basic Human Needs	Matthew Yim	[27]
	The Birdwatcher	Siobhan Devine
	The Colossal Failure of the Modern Relationship	Sergio Navarretta
	The Demons (Les Démons)	Philippe Lesage
	The Diary of an Old Man (Le Journal d’un vieil homme)	Bernard Émond
	Forsaken	Jon Cassar
	FSM	Melanie M. Jones
	He Hated Pigeons	Ingrid Veninger
	The Hotel Dieu	Adrian Thiessen
	The Mirage (Le Mirage)	Ricardo Trogi
	Natasha	David Bezmozgis
	Nestor	Daniel Robinson
	Numb	Jason R. Goode
	Patterson's Wager	O. Corbin Saleken
	The Sabbatical	Brian Stockton
	The Steps	Andrew Currie
	The Sublet	John Ainslie
	Suspension	Jeffery Scott Lando
	Craft awards:  • Paul Savoie (The Diary of an Old Man), Best Performance  • Jamie M. Dagg (River), Best Director, Best Screenplay  • Dylan Macleod (He Hated Pigeons), Best Cinematography		[26]
2016	Before the Streets (Avant les rues)	Chloé Leriche	[28]
	An American Dream: The Education of William Bowman	Ken Finkleman	[29]
	The Cyclotron (Le Cyclotron)	Olivier Asselin
	The Death (and Life) of Carl Naardlinger	Katherine Schlemmer
	Grand Unified Theory	David Ray
	Hunting Pignut	Martine Blue
	It's Not My Fault and I Don't Care Anyway	Chris Craddock
	Lost Solace	Chris Scheuerman
	Lovesick	Tyson Caron
	Menorca	John Barnard
	Population Zero	Adam Levins
	Raw	David I. Strasser
	Red Mile	Justin McConnell
	The Second Time Around	Leon Marr
	The Space Between	Amy Jo Johnson
	The Squealing Game	Steve Kerr
	The Sun at Midnight	Kirsten Carthew
	The 3 L'il Pigs 2 (Les 3 p'tits cochons 2)	Jean-François Pouliot
	The Void	Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski
	Craft awards:  • Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (The Sun at Midnight), Best Performance  • Chloé Leriche (Before the Streets), Best Director  • Olivier Asselin (The Cyclotron), Best Screenplay  • Mathieu Laverdière (The Cyclotron), Best Cinematography		[28]
2017	All You Can Eat Buddha	Ian Lagarde	[30]
	Allure	Carlos and Jason Sanchez
	8 Minutes Ahead	Ben Hoskyn	[31]
	Becoming Burlesque	Jackie English
	The Cannon	Marshall Axani
	Cardinals	Grayson Moore, Aidan Shipley
	The Definites	Hannah Cheesman, Mackenzie Donaldson
	Hochelaga, Land of Souls (Hochelaga, terre des âmes)	François Girard
	Juggernaut	Daniel DiMarco
	Mobile Homes	Vladimir de Fontenay
	Never Saw It Coming	Gail Harvey
	Nobody Famous	Sarah Rotella
	Porcupine Lake	Ingrid Veninger
	The Prodigal Dad	Robert Wenzek
	Prodigals	Michelle Ouellet
	Santa Stole Our Dog	Bryan Michael Stoller
	Someone Else's Wedding	Pat Kiely
	Trench 11	Leo Scherman
	Tulipani, Love, Honour and a Bicycle	Mike van Diem
	Venus	Eisha Marjara
	Craft awards:  • Evan Rachel Wood (Allure), Best Performance  • Ian Lagarde (All You Can Eat Buddha), Best Director  • Grayson Moore (Cardinals), Best Screenplay  • Sara Mishara (Allure), Best Cinematography		[30]
2018	A Colony (Une colonie)	Geneviève Dulude-De Celles	[32]
	Acquainted	Natty Zavitz
	An Audience of Chairs	Deanne Foley
	Bella Ciao!	Carolyn Combs
	The Dancing Dogs of Dombrova	Zack Bernbaum
	Falls Around Her	Darlene Naponse
	Family First (Chien de garde)	Sophie Dupuis
	The Fireflies Are Gone (La Disparition des lucioles)	Sébastien Pilote
	Honey Bee	Rama Rau
	In God I Trust	Maja Zdanowski
	Nose to Tail	Jesse Zigelstein
	Red Rover	Shane Belcourt
	Roobha	Lenin M. Sivam
	Les Salopes, or the Naturally Wanton Pleasure of Skin (Les salopes ou le sucre naturel de la peau)	Renée Beaulieu
	Sashinka	Kristina Wagenbauer
	Stockholm	Robert Budreau
	Trouble in the Garden	Roz Owen
	Woodland	Jon Silverberg
	Craft awards:  • Émilie Bierre (A Colony), Best Performance  • Geneviève Dulude-De Celles (A Colony), Best Director  • Robert Budreau (Stockholm), Best Screenplay  • Michel La Veaux (The Fireflies Are Gone), Best Cinematography		[32]
2019	Antigone	Sophie Deraspe	[33]
	Apapacho	Marquise Lepage	[34]
	Black Conflux	Nicole Dorsey
	Body and Bones	Melanie Oates
	Canadian Strain	Geordie Sabbagh
	The Cuban	Sergio Navarretta
	Dreamland	Bruce McDonald
	Entangled	Gaurav Seth
	Fall Back Down	S. B. Edwards
	From the Vine	Sean Cisterna
	Guilt (Le Coupable)	Onur Karaman
	Hammer	Christian Sparkes
	The Marijuana Conspiracy	Craig Pryce
	Promiseland	Kirk Caouette
	Queen of the Morning Calm	Gloria Ui Young Kim
	Spinster	Andrea Dorfman
	Things I Do for Money	Warren P. Sonoda
	Thunderbird	Nicholas Treeshin
	Volition	Tony Dean Smith
	We Had It Coming	Paul Barbeau
	Craft awards:  • Nahéma Ricci (Antigone), Best Performance  • Sophie Deraspe (Antigone), Best Director, Best Screenplay  • Celiana Cárdenas (The Cuban), Best Cinematography		[33]

2020s

Year	Film	Director	Ref
2020	Little Orphans	Ruth Lawrence	[35]
	All In Madonna	Arnold Lim	[36]
	An Introvert's Guide to High School	Sophie Harvey
	Between Waves	Virginia Abramovich
	The Corruption of Divine Providence	Jeremy Torrie
	Goddess of the Fireflies (La déesse des mouches à feu)	Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette
	In Her City	Carl Bessai
	Indian Road Trip	Allan W. Hopkins
	The Marina (La Marina)	Christophe Levac, Étienne Galloy
	Mercy	Sam Flamont
	Québexit	Joshua Demers
	Still the Water	Susan Rodgers
	Sugar Daddy	Wendy Morgan
	Underground (Souterrain)	Sophie Dupuis
	You Will Remember Me (Tu te souviendras de moi)	Éric Tessier
	Craft awards:  • Rémy Girard (You Will Remember Me), Best Performance  • Sophie Dupuis (Underground), Best Director  • Gail Maurice, Xavier Yuvens and Joshua Demers (Québexit), Best Screenplay  • Fred Gervais-Dupuis (The Marina), Best Cinematography		[35]
2021	Cinema of Sleep	Jeffrey St. Jules	[37]
	Altar Boy	Serville Poblete	[38]
	Carmen	Valerie Buhagiar
	Confessions of a Hitman	Luc Picard
	Dawn, Her Dad and the Tractor	Shelley Thompson
	Drinkwater	Stephen Campanelli
	Evelyne	Carl Bessai
	Inès	Renée Beaulieu
	The Inhuman (L'Inhumain)	Jason Brennan
	Lune	Arturo Pérez Torres, Aviva Armour-Ostroff
	The Noise of Engines (Le Bruit des moteurs)	Philippe Grégoire
	Nouveau Québec	Sarah Fortin
	Peace by Chocolate	Jonathan Keijser
	Run Woman Run	Zoe Leigh Hopkins
	We're All in This Together	Katie Boland
	Craft awards:  • Dayo Ade (Cinema of Sleep), Best Performance  • Luc Picard (Confessions of a Hitman), Best Director  • Sarah Fortin (Nouveau Québec), Best Screenplay  • Diego Guijarro (Carmen), Best Cinematography		[37]
2022	Coyote	Katherine Jerkovic	[39]
	The 12 Tasks of Imelda (Les 12 travaux d’Imelda)	Martin Villeneuve	[40]
	Adult Adoption	Karen Knox
	Broken Angel	Jules Arita Koostachin
	Colorblind	Mostafa Keshvari
	Diaspora	Deco Dawson
	The End of Sex	Sean Garrity
	Exile	Jason James
	Lissa's Trip	Jeffery Lando
	Niagara	Guillaume Lambert
	Midnight at the Paradise	Vanessa Matsui
	Polaris	Kirsten Carthew
	Rodeo (Rodéo)	Joëlle Desjardins Paquette
	Soft-Spoken Weepy Cult Child	Irina Lord
	Craft awards:  • Jorge Martinez Colorado (Coyote), Best Performance  • Joëlle Desjardins Paquette (Rodeo), Best Director  • Guillaume Lambert (Niagara), Best Screenplay  • David Schuurman (Polaris), Best Cinematography  • Arthur Tarnowski (The 12 Tasks of Imelda), Best Editing		[39]
2023	Atikamekw Suns (Soleils Atikamekw)	Chloé Leriche	[41]
	The Boy in the Woods	Rebecca Snow	[42]
	The Burning Season	Sean Garrity
	Finality of Dusk	Madison Thomas
	Hailey Rose	Sandi Somers
	My Mother's Men (Les hommes de ma mère)	Anik Jean
	The Nature of Love (Simple comme Sylvain)	Monia Chokri
	She Talks to Strangers	Bruce Sweeney
	Tell Me Why These Things Are So Beautiful (Dis-moi pourquoi ces choses sont si belles)	Lyne Charlebois
	This Time	Robert Vaughn
	With Love and a Major Organ	Kim Albright
	Zoe.mp4	Jeremy Lutter
	Craft awards:  • Ensemble cast of Atikamekw Suns, Best Performance  • Chloé Leriche (Atikamekw Suns), Best Direction  • Jonas Chernick and Diana Frances (The Burning Season), Best Screenplay  • André Turpin (The Nature of Love), Best Cinematography  • Robert Swartz (The Boy in the Woods), Best Editing		[41]
2024	Really Happy Someday	J Stevens	[43]
	Aberdeen	Ryan Cooper, Eva Thomas	[44]
	The Birds Who Fear Death	Sanjay Patel
	Darkest Miriam	Naomi Jaye
	Hunting Matthew Nichols	Markian Tarasiuk
	Kryptic	Kourtney Roy
	Lucky Strikes	Darcy Waite
	Phoenixes (Phénix)	Jonathan Beaulieu-Cyr
	Please, After You	Rob Michaels
	Sway	Charlie Hamilton, Zachary Ramelan
	Sweet Angel Baby	Melanie Oates
	Who Do I Belong To	Meryam Joobeur
	Young Werther	José Lourenço
	Craft awards:  • Salha Nasraoui (Who Do I Belong To), Best Performance  • Gail Maurice (Aberdeen), Best Performance Honorable Mention  • Jonathan Beaulieu-Cyr (Phoenixes), Best Direction  • J Stevens and Breton Lalama (Really Happy Someday), Best Screenplay  • Ariane Falardeau St-Amour (Phoenixes), Best Cinematography  • Meryam Joobeur and Maxime Mathis (Who Do I Belong To), Best Editing		[45]
2025	Akashi	Mayumi Yoshida	[46]
	At the Place of Ghosts (Sk+te’kmujue’katik)	Bretten Hannam	[47]
	The Cost of Heaven (Gagne ton ciel)	Mathieu Denis
	Influencers	Kurtis David Harder
	Little Lorraine	Andy Hines
	Mile End Kicks	Chandler Levack
	Nika and Madison	Eva Thomas
	Starwalker	Corey Payette
	Wrong Husband (Uiksaringitara)	Zacharias Kunuk
	Youngblood	Hubert Davis
	Craft awards:  • Mayumi Yoshida (Akashi), Best Performance  • Zacharias Kunuk (Wrong Husband), Best Direction  • Chandler Levack (Mile End Kicks), Best Screenplay  • Jaryl Lim (Akashi), Best Cinematography  • Simone Smith (Mile End Kicks), Best Editing		[46]

References

1. Katherine Monk, "Whistler film festival set to soar". Vancouver Sun , December 3, 2004.
2. Alexandra Gill, "Whistler film festival launches Borsos award". The Globe and Mail , December 4, 2004.
3. Katherine Monk, "Whistler film fest to present award". Vancouver Sun , July 9, 2004.
4. "Film fest feast proves there's more to life than VIFF". WestEnder, December 9, 2004.
5. Michael D. Reid, "Filmmakers make tracks to Whistler". Montreal Gazette , November 21, 2004.
6. Alexandra Gill, "Documentary takes feature award at Whistler". The Globe and Mail , December 5, 2005.
7. Nicole Fitzgerald, "Borsos Award contenders announced". Pique Newsmagazine , November 11, 2005.
8. Fiona Hughes, "Happy People tops Whistler Fest awards". Vancouver Courier , December 6, 2006.
9. "Six Canadian films competing for big prize at Whistler film fest". Vancouver Sun , November 9, 2006.
10. Yvonne Zacharias, "Lafleur takes top prize at Whistler; Continental, A Film Without Guns judged to be best new Canadian feature". Vancouver Sun , December 3, 2007.
11. Glen Schaefer, "Whistler Film Festival draws fans, artists, deal-makers". The Province , November 1, 2007.
12. Fred Lee, "Whistler fest shines on Canadian films; Justice gala supports first responders". National Post , December 13, 2008.
13. "Sutherland oversees Whistler prize judging". The Province , November 5, 2008.
14. Marke Andrews, "Quebec director Sophie Deraspe wrote, directed and shot Borsos winner". Vancouver Sun , December 7, 2009.
15. "Flesh-toned movie vies for Borsos prize". The Province , November 3, 2009.
16. Graeme McRanor, "It's a wrap for 10th anniversary of Whistler Film Festival; Highlights included a chat with filmmakers Monte Hellman, Bruce McDonald and Atom Egoyan and a new home for the film fest". Vancouver Sun , December 6, 2010.
17. "WFF Announces Films in Borsos Competition and Inaugural New Voices International Feature Competition". Vimooz, November 7, 2010.
18. Maggie Langrick, "Winnipeg filmmaker's Keyhole named best Canadian feature". Vancouver Sun , December 5, 2011.
19. Stephen Smysnuik, "Borsos Competition celebrates Canada's finest". Pique Newsmagazine , November 30, 2011.
20. Glen Schaefer, "Teen angst film takes top award". The Province , December 3, 2012.
21. Etan Vlessing, "Kate Melville’s ‘Picture Day’ Wins Best Canadian Feature at Whistler Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter , December 2, 2012.
22. Etan Vlessing, "The Husband prevails in Whistler at the Borsos". Playback , December 9, 2013.
23. Etan Vlessing, "Uvanga, Louis Cyr added to Whistler’s Borsos competition". Playback , October 15, 2013.
24. Etan Vlessing, "Whistler: 'Felix and Meira' Makes Clean Sweep of Borsos Competition". The Hollywood Reporter , December 7, 2014.
25. Jeremy Singer, "Whistler Film Festival Announces ‘Borsos Competition’ Finalists". Entertainment Tonight Canada , October 14, 2014. Archived October 17, 2023.
26. Etan Vlessing, "Rossif Sutherland's 'River' Wins Big at Whistler Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter , December 12, 2015.
27. Susan Gittins, "WFF: Whistler Film Festival Borsos Awards & Closing Gala Screening of Okanagan-Filmed NUMB on December 6th". Hollywood North Buzz, November 28, 2015.
28. Jordan Pinto, "Before the Streets wins big in Whistler". Playback , December 5, 2016.
29. Regan Reid, "Whistler Film Festival unveils 2016 lineup". Playback , November 1, 2016.
30. Brandon Barrett, "Two-way tie for WFF's coveted Borsos Award". Pique Newsmagazine , December 6, 2017.
31. Clare Ogilvie, "Borsos Competition honours Canadian filmmaking talent at WFF". Pique Newsmagazine , November 8, 2017.
32. Adrian Mack, "Québécois film A Colony sweeps Whistler Film Fest awards". The Georgia Straight , December 3, 2018.
33. Adrian Mack, "Antigone sweeps as Whistler film festival wraps". The Georgia Straight , December 11, 2019.
34. Victor Stiff, "Whistler Film Festival Announces 2019 Line-up". That Shelf, November 6, 2019.
35. Lauren Malyk, "Little Orphans wins Best Canadian Feature at WFF". Playback , December 21, 2020.
36. Alyssa Noel, "Whistler Festival Film unveils 2020 lineup". Pique Newsmagazine , November 5, 2020.
37. Charlie Smith, "Cinema of Sleep wins Borsos award for best Canadian feature at Whistler Film Festival". The Georgia Straight , December 20, 2021.
38. Brandon Barrett, "Whistler Film Festival announces full lineup for hybrid 2021 event". Pique Newsmagazine , November 4, 2021.
39. Pat Mullen, "River, Coyote Top Whistler Film Festival Awards Winners". Point of View , December 4, 2022.
40. Alyssa Noel, "Whistler Film Festival announces film lineup". Pique Newsmagazine , November 2, 2022.
41. Taimur Sikander Mirza, "Atikamekw Suns wins best Canadian feature at WFF". Playback , December 5, 2023.
42. Taimur Sikander Mirza, "500 Days in the Wild to world premiere at Whistler". Playback , November 1, 2023.
43. Jamie Casemore, "Really Happy Someday takes Best Canadian Feature at WFF". Playback , December 9. 2024.
44. Janet Smith, "Hunting Matthew Nichols and Kryptic among B.C. contingent as Whistler Film Festival unveils Canadian entries". Stir, October 28, 2024.
45. Gail Johnson, "Whistler Film Festival announces 2024 award winners". Stir, December 10, 2024.
46. Vlessing, Etan (December 7, 2025). "'Akashi' Sweeps Awards at Whistler Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter.
47. Andrew Tracy, "Youngblood, Akashi among Whistler’s Borsos Award nominees". Playback , October 28, 2025.