Polaris to have ‘cinematic event’

Organizers of the $50,000 Polaris Music Prize have replaced the usual gala of live performances with a “cinematic event” that will be streamed online, due to the pandemic. A group of directors has been commissioned to create short films for each of the 10 nominated albums.

Alicia Harris, winner for live action short drama at the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards, will create a video for Jessie Reyez’s “When Love Came to Kill Us,” for instance. Yassin (Narcy) Alsalman, who won a 2018 Much Music Video Award for his work on A Tribe Called Red’s video “R.E.D.,” will create visuals for Junia-T’s “Studio Monk.” Other Polaris contenders include Montreal transgender rapper Backxwash, First Nations indie rockers nehiyawak, U.S. Girls, Witch Prophet, Pantayo and previous Polaris winners Kaytranada, Lido Pimienta and Caribou.

The showcase, which will also reveal this year’s winner, airs Oct. 19 on CBC Gem, CBC Music’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages, and at CBCMusic.ca/Polaris.