Nina Roza wins Summit Award at 45th Vancouver Film Festival
Nina Roza has won the top juried prize at the 45th Vancouver International Film Festival.
Geneviève Dulude-De Celles' film took the Summit Award, the festival's lead juried prize. The winners were announced on Wednesday night, with the festival set to close on Oct. 11, according to Variety.
Nina Roza follows a Bulgarian-born, Montreal-based art expert who returns to his home country to investigate the work of a young painting prodigy, according to VIFF. The film is also Canada's entry for the 2027 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. That selection was announced by Telefilm Canada on Aug. 25, 2026, according to Telefilm Canada.
The festival's other main juried prizes went to five films. Nyla Innuksuk's In the Heart of the South won the Horizon Award. Banu Sıvacı's Hear the Yellow won the Vanguard Award.
Marie Clements' How We Stand won the Arbutus Award, which recognises filmmaking from British Columbia. Banchi Hanuse's Ceremony won the Tides Award. Yu Yu's Pre-Parenting won the Short Forum Award for short film.
Each competition also gave a special mention. Ian Bawa's Strong Son was recognised in the Summit competition. Nathan Donovan's Clubfoot was recognised in Horizon. Carol Nguyen's Still Night, Burning House was recognised in Tides.
Hayley Gray and Kaayla Whachell's Send the Rain received a special mention in the Arbutus competition. Samuel Urbina's That Shadow Fading received a special mention in Vanguard. Kamal Aljafari's Going Home received a special mention in Short Forum.
The 45th edition runs Oct. 1 to 11. The programme includes more than 160 films and 85 shorts, alongside VIFF Live performances, VIFF Talks and special events, according to VIFF.
For audiences following the autumn festival run, this is a useful list to keep. The juried awards point to Canadian and international titles that may travel further in the months ahead.
