Sundar Prize Film Festival unveils this year's award nominees
Among the titles nominated across 14 categories are Bikas Ranjan Mishra’s Bayaan, Josias Tschanz’s The Fire in Our Hearts, and more
SPONSORED POST BY Sundar Prize Film Festival
Bayaan
The Sundar Prize Film Festival has just unveiled the award nominees for its 2026 edition, taking place April 23 to 26.
In the Best Feature Film category, nominees include Bikas Ranjan Mishra’s cult-focused detective story Bayaan, Gail Maurice’s queer romantic drama Blood Lines, and Jocelyn Forgues’s Et Maintenant? (What Now?), about a singer-songwriter diagnosed with tongue cancer. Best Short Film nominees are Alexander Farah’s “One Day This Kid”, Amir Zargara’s “Vital”, and Yassmina Karajah’s “Ambush”.
For Best Feature Documentary, the finalists are Patrick Shannon’s Saints & Warriors, Tristin Greyeyes’s A Cree Approach, and Josias Tschanz’s The Fire in Our Hearts. For Best Short Documentary it’s between Alireza Kazemipour’s “Light Through the Blindfold”, Özgün Gündüz’s “Burcu’s Angels”, and Trixie Pacis’s “Embers”. Tschanz’s feature and Pacis’s short are also both vying for Best Environmental Film.
The Fire in Our Hearts
Tschanz is up for a third award, Best BC Feature Film, alongside Greyeyes’s A Cree Approach and Cory Thibert’s Mildlife. More local titles—Hannah Yang’s “Red Light Rebel”, Neetha John’s “Sanjeevani”, and Khánh Nguyễn’s “Nepo Baby”—are nominated for Best BC Short Film.
Elsewhere, the Best Short Animation nominees are Yaffa Aboudib Husseini’s “Sing to the Wind”, Alice Shin’s “Pearl”, and Ilana Zackon’s “Grain”. Best 2SLGBTQ+ Film could go to Tathagata Ghosh’s “IF”, Farah’s “One Day This Kid”, or Jason Sakaki’s “Ramen Boys”. And Best Spiritual, Health & Wellness Film nominees include Forgues’s Et Maintenant? (What Now?) and Kazemipour’s “Light Through the Blindfold”.
Et Maintenant? (What Now?)
Best Student Film nominees include Sofia Tonin’s “Praying for Love”, Hannah Mangione’s “Knitty Gritty”, and Magill Moyes’s “A Ticket Home”, while nominees for the BC Student Film Showcase Award are Ryah SM King’s “Home Is a Feeling”, Renata Calderon’s “Pan de Muerto”, and Sophia Santos’s “Through the Flow of Summer Snow”. Titles competing in the Best Youth Film (Under 19) category are Angela Ruohan Yan’s “Fallen”, Janshin Soo’s “Drafting”, and Berenika Widera’s “Best Friends Notice of Deportation”.
The KDocsFF Filmmaker Residency Prize could go to Gündüz’s “Burcu’s Angels”, John’s “Sanjeevani”, or Nguyễn’s “Nepo Baby”. And artists vying for the BC Performer’s Mastery Award are Medha Gautham, who is featured in three films selected for the festival; Thibert, director and lead actor of Mildlife; and Andrew Woo, lead actor in “Red Light Rebel”.
The full festival lineup and screening schedule can be found here.
Post sponsored by Sundar Prize Film Festival.
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