Gimli, Manitoba celebrated homegrown talent and international cinema at the Gimli International Film Festival awards reception on July 29, 2026 at Johnson Hall, capping a week of screenings that drew thousands to the lakeside town.
Sera-Lys McArthur and Malia Baker shared the Manitoba Best Performance award from ACTRA. McArthur was recognized for her role in Many Wounds, while Baker’s performance came in Hair of the Bear. Quan Luong took home the Best Manitoba Film award from Manitoba Film & Music for Portraits.
The Grand Jury Prize went to Felipe Bustos Sierra for Everybody to Kenmure Street, a documentary five years in the making that follows a 2021 protest in Glasgow, Scotland against an immigration raid. Banchi Hanuse received the Indigenous Spirit Award for Ceremony, a look at the Nuxalk Nation and the disappearance of ooligan fish. The Best Canadian Short award went to Shervin Kermani for Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts, following a man walking the island of La Palma after a volcanic eruption.
Jeremy Torrie was named Best Manitoba Director by the Directors Guild of Canada (Manitoba) for Many Wounds, and John Luke won the 15th annual RBC $15,000 Emerging Filmmaker Pitch Competition for the project Sun Shower.
The festival, now in its 26th year, has grown from a small offshoot of Gimli’s Icelandic Festival into Manitoba’s largest film festival and the largest rural film festival in Canada. With a permanent population of about 2,250, the event attracts more than 15,000 attendees each year, providing a major boost for local businesses, accommodations, and restaurants.
