The nominees for the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards were announced today, and we’re delighted to see so many impactful titles recognized—especially the Indigenous, queer, and women-led series topping this year’s list.

With 19 nominations, the incredibly well-deserved leader this year is Little Bird,Jennifer Podemski’s devastating limited series about the irreparable harm of the Sixties Scoop. 

“In the long road of repairing the damage done since the beginning of screen stories, a story like Little Bird dismantles harmful narratives and introduces a truth never told before,” Podemski told us last year, adding that the series was “healing and transformative” for her to create. Little Bird tackles intergenerational trauma, the horrific treatment of Indigenous people in Canada, and themes of identity and belonging all with captivating and heartbreaking storytelling—it’s great to see it receive the acclaim it deserves.

Courtesy of Bell Media

Right behind Little Bird in the television categories are Sort Of, with 18 nominations, and Workin’ Moms with 12. Both CBC comedy series aired their final seasons last year, and have received ongoing praise for their genuine, layered representations of women and queer people.

Workin’ Moms has been a leader in authentic representation for Canadian women, paving the way for multi-faceted depictions of mothers and motherhood since it first aired in 2017, while Sort Of has broken barriers by centring a gender-fluid, queer person of colour, played by Bilal Baig. When the series wrapped, cast member Amanda Cordner (who picked up a nomination today for Best Supporting Performer, Comedy) said it best: “Sort Of will be remembered for being fiercely original, QUEER AF, funny, dark and unapologetically Canadian.”

CBC/Michael Gibson

In the film categories, Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry leads with 17 nominations—the most ever for a film in CSA history. We’re also thrilled to see a woman-directed title near the top: Ariane Louis-Seize’s darkly comedic coming-of-age film Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person earned 12 nominations, including Best Motion Picture and Achievement in Directing.

The CSA’s digital media categories have a mix of fresh, innovative voices leading the nominations. The Drop, a quirky web series about Toronto line waiters, and How to Fail as a Popstar, Vivek Shraya’s heartfelt story about the rollercoaster of aspiring pop stardom, scored 5 nominations each.

Photo by Kristina Dittmar

Browsing the list of this year’s nominees is a refreshing reminder of the incredible talent we have right here in Canada. 

“In a landscape as diverse and dynamic as ours, the 2024 Canadian Screen Award nominees highlight the breadth of talent our nation proudly nurtures,” said Tammy Frick, CEO, The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

We spotted a ton of other gems amongst this year’s nominees that we’ve already featured on SheDoesTheCity! We recommend checking these out:

Photo by George Pimentel for Immina Films

RU picked up 9 nominations. This beautiful film adaptation of Kim Thúy’s best-selling novel is based on her family’s story of fleeing to Canada to escape the Vietnam War.

Courtesy of Elevation Pictures

With 2 nominations apiece, Luis De Filippis’ Something You Said Last Night and Meredith Hama-Brown’s Seagrass are quietly powerful dramas about family and identity that left us thinking long after the screen went black. 

Courtesy of Elevation Pictures

Molly McGlynn’s coming-of-age dramedy Fitting In was nominated for 2 awards, including Achievement in Casting.

Courtesy of Cineplex Pictures

Amrit Kaur scored a nomination for her leading role in the moving Bollywood-inspired drama The Queen of My Dreams, which was nominated for a total of 5 awards.

Courtesy of CBC

Amongst the documentary categories, we were thrilled to see some recognition for Swan Song, Summer Qamp, and Coven. 

In the television categories, Sasha Leigh Henry’s clever and chaotic comedy Bria Mack Gets a Life picked up 5 nominations, as did the eye-opening docu-series Black Community Mixtapes.

The Canadian Screen Awards offer a fuller picture of the power of Canadian storytelling across genres, with awards dedicated to the hard-working people both behind and in front of the camera who don’t often get the recognition they deserve.

Beloved Canadian comedian Mae Martin is set to host The 2024 Canadian Screen Awards broadcast show on May 31—we can’t wait to tune in.

See the full list of nominations on the Canadian Screen Awards website.