'The Calling' Leads Directors Guild of Canada Nominations

Director Jason Stone on the set of The Calling.
eOne Films.

The nominees for the 2015 Directors Guild of Canada are a varied and overall unexpected bunch. Some of 2014’s biggest Canadian films like Mommy and Maps to the Stars are well represented here from the pool of 250 submissions, although, surprisingly, neither Xavier Dolan nor David Cronenberg are among the nominees. The 2015 DGC awards mostly spotlight under-the-radar talents and films feature film categories that didn’t quite get their due, like Fall or The Calling, the latter of which leads the film nominations with three kudos including noms in the top categories. Maps and Pompeii also have 3 noms, but only in tech categories. Other pleasant and well-deserved nominations include Sturla Gunnarsson’s Monsoon on the doc front and Michelle Latimer’s The Underground in the shorts category, while a lone nomination for The Witch is a surprise, since the USA/Canada co-pro hasn’t hit theatres yet after its acclaimed debut at Sundance in January. (Elevation Pictures will release the film later this year.) The leaders on the TV side include The Book of Negroes, Orphan Black, and Schitt’s Creek.

The nominees in the feature film categories are:

BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE FILM

Presented by Gold Sponsor, Deluxe

Charles Binamé – Elephant Song

Terrance Odette – Fall

Jason Stone - The Calling

Jacob Tierney– Preggoland 

BEST FEATURE FILM

Presented by Lead Sponsor, Technicolor

Corner Gas: The Movie

Elephant Song

Mommy

Relative Happiness

ALLAN KING AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN DOCUMENTARY

Presented by Silver Sponsor Rogers Group of Funds

Monsoon

Shameless Propaganda

Super Duper Alice Cooper

The Boy From Geita  

BEST SHORT FILM

Made in Bali

The Day Santa Didn't Come

The Underground

Vox 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE FILM

Presented by Silver Sponsor Pinewood Studios Group

Paul Austerberry – Pompeii

Craig Lathrop - The Witch

Oleg M. Savytski - The Calling

Carol Spier - Maps to the Stars 

BEST PICTURE EDITING – FEATURE FILM

Michelle Conroy – Pompeii

Susan Shipton - The Captive

Ron Sanders - Maps to the Stars

Wiebke Von Carolsfeld - October Gale

BEST SOUND EDITING – FEATURE FILM

Horns 

Maps to the Stars 

Pompeii 

The Captive

The awards will be presented at the annual Gala on Saturday, October 24 at The Carlu in Toronto.

Please visit www.dgc.ca for the full list of nominations.