DOC Awards Announced
by Staff
(December 11, 2020 – Toronto, ON) The DOC Institute has announced the winner of their Vanguard and Luminary awards at their 7th annual DOC Institute Honours Celebration, supported by presenting sponsor, CBC, and award sponsor, Rogers Group of Funds, Bank of Montreal and SIM International.
The BMO-DOC Vanguard Award was given to award-winning filmmaker Michelle Latimer. The Vanguard Award is reserved for mid-career creatives. Previous winners include Millefiore Clarkes, Amar Wala, Victoria Lean and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril.
“Receiving the Vanguard award is an especially tremendous honour because it comes from my peers — the artists, storytellers and collaborators who inspire me daily and who give me courage to continue on this creative path,” said Latimer, in a ceremony that was hosted on a Zoom session by multi-disciplinary media personality Garvia Bailey, and attended by over 100 people. “Together we’re creating community and hopefully changing the world with our stories. There is nothing to this life if we can’t lift one another up and this award is a beautiful reminder to pay this generosity forward to the next generation of doc-makers with stories to tell.”
The Rogers-DOC Luminary Award was given to Canadian documentary/industry veteran and Indigenous cinema icon, Alanis Obomsawin. One of the most acclaimed Indigenous directors in the world, Alanis Obomsawin directed her first documentary for the NFB, Christmas Moose Factory in 1971. Since then, she has created more than 50 films with the NFB – including landmark documentaries like Incident at Restigouche (1984) and Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993). The Abenaki director was named a Companion of the Order of Canada – its highest distinction in 2019.
“Thank you for this very special honour, and thank you to the DOC Institute for their incredible efforts to ensure that the documentary world keeps on growing, and that the voices of all nations are heard,” said Obomsawin. “In encouraging and supporting documentary filmmakers, they also ensure that the history of our country is front and centre. Once again, I want us to remember that there is freedom in our beautiful country, Canada.”
Past winners of the DOC Institute Honours include Anne Pick, Millifiore Clarkes, Amar Wala, Zoe Dirse, Daniel Cross, Victoria Lean, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Marc Glassman, Chelsea McMullan, and Hot Docs President Chris MacDonald.
The DOC Institute is a one-stop shop for non-fiction professionals to learn business skills, hone their craft, and make industry connections. Offering creative inspiration and insider advice, we’re a hub for the non-fiction community. The DOC Institute is an initiative of DOC Ontario, the largest chapter of the Documentary Organization of Canada. DOC represents over 800 members across Canada through six regional chapters. Collectively, DOC’s members have produced thousands of documentaries; which have been seen by millions of people; and have been recognized with prestigious awards, including Oscars, Emmys, Peabodys, Geminis, Genies, and Canadian Screen Awards. DOC is proud to be a bilingual, national professional arts organization that functions as a registered charity.
