The Toronto Film Critics Association announced the winners of the 2023 Rogers Best Canadian Film and Rogers Best Canadian Documentary at their annual gala on March 4. The richest film prize in Canada, this year marked the first time the prize is shared between narrative and documentary feature, with each winner receiving $50,000.

BlackBerry, Matt Johnson’s story of the rise – and fall – of Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion’s BlackBerry was awarded top prize by the TFCA. The film about the scrappy smartphone start-up starring Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, and Johnson has been featured on several Best of the Year lists including Canada’s Top 10 and That Shelf’s year-end ranking. The TFCA previously announced Howerton as the winner of the first-ever award for Best Performance in a Canadian Film.

The inaugural prize for Rogers Best Canadian Documentary went to Chelsea McMullan’s Swan Song. A backstage look at the struggles of National Ballet of Canada Artistic Director Karen Kain’s staging of the classic Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake as the company prepares to launch in a post-pandemic world, Swan Song was also released as a four-part miniseries on CBC.

Hosted by The Handmaid’s Tale star Amanda Brugel, the TFCA gala featured guests and presenters including Matt Johnson, Jay Baruchel, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Rick Mercer, Don McKellar, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicial Person’s Ariane Louis-Seize and Sara Montpetit, Karen Kain, Ross Petty, Tantoo Cardinal, Gerry Dee, and Solo’s Sophie Dupuis and Alice Moreault.

Oscar-winning writer and new Canadian citizen John Irving (The Cider House Rules) was on hand to present the $10,000 Stella Artois Jay Scott Prize to an emerging filmmaker. This year, the award went to Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person‘s Ariane Louis-Seize.

The Company 3 Luminary Award was presented posthumously to Charles Officer, who passed away in December 2023. A pay-it-forward award, the honour allows the recipient to donate $50,000 in post-production services from Company 3 to another Canadian filmmaker. Jake Yanowski, Officer’s producing partner, announced Learn to Swim’s Thyrone Tommy as the recipient.

Among the TFCA members are several That Shelf writers: Pat Mullen, Marriska Fernandes, Jason Gorber, Rachel Ho, Courtney Small, Victor Stiff, and Rachel West.

The TFCA previously announced winners and runners-up in other film categories in December. See below for the complete list of 2023 winners.

Best Picture: The Zone of Interest
Runners-Up: All of Us Strangers, Killers of the Flower Moon

Rogers Best Canadian Film: BlackBerry directed by Matt Johnson
Runners-Up: Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, directed by Ariane Louis-Seize; Solo, directed by Sophie Dupuis

Rogers Best Canadian Documentary: Swan Song, directed by Chelsea McMullan
Runners-up: Rojek, directed by Zaynê Akyol; Someone Lives Here, directed by Zack Russell;

Best Director: Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Runners-Up: Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)

Outstanding Lead Performance: Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall; Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Runners-up: Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers), Emma Stone (Poor Things), Kôji Yakusho (Perfect Days)

Outstanding Supporting Performance: Ryan Gosling, Barbie, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Runners-Up: Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon), Robert Downey, Jr. (Oppenheimer), Glenn Howerton (BlackBerry), Charles Melton (May December)

Breakthrough Performance: Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One
Runners-Up: Charles Melton (May December), Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers)

Outstanding Performance in a Canadian Film: Glenn Howerton, BlackBerry
Runners-Up: Jay Baruchel (BlackBerry), Théodore Pellerin (Solo)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Killers of the Flower Moon – Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese
Runners-Up: All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh), Poor Things (Tony McNamara)

Best Original Screenplay: Barbie – Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
Runners-Up: Anatomy of a Fall (Arthur Harari, Justine Triet), Past Lives (Celine Song)

Allan King Documentary Award: 20 Days in Mariupol, directed by Mstyslav Chernov
Runners-Up: The Eternal Memory, directed by Maite Alberdi; Four Daughters, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania; Swan Song, directed by Chelsea McMullan

Best International Feature: Fallen Leaves, directed by Aki Kaurisämki
Runners-Up: Anatomy of a Fall, directed by Justine Triet; The Zone of Interest, directed by Jonathan Glazer

Best Animated Feature: Robot Dreams, directed by Pablo Berger
Runners-Up: The Boy and the Heron, directed by Hiyao Miyazaki; Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson

Best First Feature: Rye Lane, directed by Raine Allen-Miller
Runners-Up: American Fiction, directed by Cord Jefferson; Past Lives, directed by Celine Song

Stella Artois Jay Scott Prize: Ariane Louis-Seize

Company 3 Luminary Award: Charles Officer

Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic Award: Winne Wang