Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short Documentary

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The Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short Documentary is a Canadian award, presented annually by the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival to honour a film judged as the best Canadian short documentary film in that year's festival program. The award comes with a $3,000 prize from festival sponsors John and Betty Youson.

The award was presented for the first time in 2018. Prior to that year, a single award for Best Short Documentary Film, inclusive of both Canadian and international films, was presented. Concurrently with the creation of the Betty Youson Award, a separate award for international short films was also created.

The jury have also usually given an honorable mention in addition to the overall winner.

Winners

YearFilmFilmmaker(s)Ref
2018 Prince's Tale Jamie Miller [1]
VikaChristian Borys, Marta Iwanek
2019Kora: A Circle LifeTenzin Sedon [2]
Mothers OfRoss Lai
2020 êmîcêtôcêt: Many Bloodlines Theola Ross [3]
In the Shadow of the Pines Anne Koizumi
2021 Ain't No Time for Women Sarra El Abed [4]
The HairdresserLorraine Price
2022 Perfecting the Art of Longing Kitra Cahana [5]
The Benevolents (Les Bienvaillants) Sarah Baril Gaudet
2023 Last Respects Megan Durnford [6]
2024Am I the Skinniest Person You’ve Ever Seen? Eisha Marjara [7]
SparkleIsabelle Grignon-Francke

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