‘Antigone’ wins big at Screen Awards
A Quebec film based on an ancient Greek myth won top honours on the final night of the virtual Canadian Screen Awards, which highlighted cinema.
“Antigone,” written and directed by Sophie Deraspe, won Best Motion Picture, as well as Best Adapted Screenplay and Editing, and Best Actress and Supporting Actress for Nahéma Ricci and Nour Belkhiria.
Also winning five prizes on Thursday night was Quebec director François Girard’s “The Song of Names,” the story of a Polish-Jewish violin prodigy before and after the Second World War.
The movie won Best Original Score and Best Original Song for Oscar-winning Canadian composer Howard Shore, as well as prizes for overall sound, sound editing and makeup.
Two films took three awards each. “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open” won Best Direction and Original Screenplay for Elle-Maija Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn, as well as Best Cinematography. And “The Twentieth Century” won for art direction, costume design and hair.
The Golden Screen Award for the film with the highest box office went to “Menteur.”
See academy.ca for a full list of winners. Debra Yeo
CBC reveals new show in fall lineup
A series about a basketball program in Orangeville that has a knack for turning out NBA players is among the new shows coming to CBC this fall. “Orangeville Prep” is one of five new shows the broadcaster promoted at an online “upfront” presentation on Tuesday and the only Canadian original on the list that hadn’t been previously announced.
The others include the Indigenous drama “Trickster;” documentary series “Enslaved,” hosted by Samuel L. Jackson; Canada/New Zealand thriller “The Sounds”; and a French/ British adaptation of H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds.”
CBC also highlighted two new winter series: the previously announced “Lady Dicks” and “Arctic Vets,” a docuseries about veterinarians in northern Manitoba.
Araft of shows are also returning in the fall and winter, including “Battle of the Blades”; “Family Feud Canada”; “Kim’s Convenience”; “Murdoch Mysteries”; “Coroner”; “Frankie Drake Mysteries”; “Heartland”; “Workin’ Moms” and “The Nature of Things,” which kicks off its 60th season with a conversation between David Suzuki and Sir David Attenborough about the “State of the Planet.” Debra Yeo
Winfrey, Pitt part of Grammys special
The Grammys is putting together an event featuring Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey, Herbie Hancockand Harry Connick, Jr. to honour essential workers across the U.S. The Recording Academy, which puts on the Grammy Awards annually, announced Thursday that the two-hour special, “United We Sing: A Grammy Salute to the Unsung Heroes,” will air June 21 on CBS.
“United We Sing” will follow Connick Jr., who is hosting, and his filmmaker-daughter Georgia Connickon a road trip celebrating and thanking essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Winfrey, Pitt, Sandra Bullock, Queen Latifah, Renée Zellweger and Drew Brees will also deliver special messages to workers. The event will also feature performances by Hancock, John Fogerty, Jamie Foxx, Cyndi Lauper, Dave Matthews, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis,
Tim McGraw, Andra Dayand Little Big Town, among others. The Associated Press
Apple launches African radio show
Apple Music is launching its first radio show in Africa. The streaming platform announced Thursday that “Africa Now Radio with Cuppy” will debut Sunday and will feature a mix of contemporary and traditional popular African sounds, including genres like Afrobeat, rap, house, kuduro and more.
Cuppy, the Nigerian-born DJ and music producer, will host the weekly one-hour show, which will be available at 9 a.m. EDT. “The show represents a journey from West to East and North to South, but importantly a narrative of Africa then to Africa now,” Cuppy in a statement.
African music and artists have found success outside of the continent and onto the pop charts in both the U.S. and U.K. in recent years. Acts like Drake and Beyoncé have borrowed the sound for their own songs, while performers like South African DJ Black Coffee as well as Davido, Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Wizkid and Mr Eazi — all with roots in Nigeria — continue to gain attention and have become household names.
Apple Music’s announcement comes the same week Universal Music Group said it was launching Def Jam Africa, a new division of the label focused on representing hip-hop, Afrobeat and trap talent in Africa. The label said it will be based in Johannesburg and Lagos but plans to sign talent from all over the continent. The Associated Press