{"id":544518,"date":"2026-03-16T18:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/544518\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T18:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:02:08","slug":"canadas-oscars-triumph-means-nothing-if-we-dont-keep-supporting-our-filmmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/544518\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s Oscars triumph means nothing if we don\u2019t keep supporting our filmmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

From left to right: Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong, winners of the Best Animated Feature Film Award for ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on Sunday.Frazer Harrison\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Paul Thomas Anderson and his One Battle After Another American revolutionaries might have taken home the bulk of the hardware at Sunday\u2019s Academy Awards<\/a>, but the real winner of the night was Canada. <\/p>\n

Homegrown artists triumphed in nearly every category in which they were nominated, for a total of four Oscar wins: Best Animated Feature for KPop Demon Hunters<\/a> (co-directed by Maggie Kang); Best Animated Short for The Girl Who Cried Pearls<\/a> (directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski); Best Production Design for Frankenstein<\/a> (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau); and Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Frankenstein (Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey, alongside Brit Mike Hill). <\/p>\n

The winners didn\u2019t shy away from their roots, either, with Lavis and Szczerbowski in particular offering Canada some serious on-stage love, name-checking the National Film Board, actor Colm Feore, musician Patrick Watson, and the entirety of Montreal in their acceptance speech. \u201cThe fact that we accepted the award from Will Arnett<\/a> makes me feel like we\u2019re taking over back here,\u201d Lavis told reporters backstage.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Chris Lavis, left, and Maciek Szczerbowski, winners of the Best Animated Short Film for ‘The Girl Who Cried Pearls.’Frazer Harrison\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

It was a beautiful evening for Canadian artists who have long proven that, despite our country\u2019s relatively small market and overwhelming proximity to the Hollywood machine, we can outperform and outshine. And all without even a single Heated Rivalry mention! <\/p>\n

Naturally, Canadian politicians used the moment to splash all the usual plaudits across their social-media feeds. Prime Minister Mark Carney: \u201cThe masterpieces we celebrate tonight are a testament to the fact that Canada is a nation of diverse and talented storytellers.\u201d Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller: \u201cWhat an immense source of pride to see Canadian talent shining at the Oscars!\u201d Minister of Finance Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne: \u201cAn amazing tribute to Canadian talent and artists!\u201d Even Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre got in on the act: \u201cCanada is proud of you. Thank you for shining a light on our culture on the international stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opinion: Why we\u2019re blowing a generational moment for Canadian culture<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet the words of congratulations cannot help but feel hollow at best and hypocritical at worst given the tremulous state of arts funding in this allegedly \u201cElbows Up\u201d<\/a> era. <\/p>\n

The Girl Who Cried Pearls was created by the National Film Board, earning the federally funded institution its 12th Academy Award. And the short was only made possible due to the fact that its Montreal-based creators have been working tirelessly within the NFB for 20 years. Meanwhile, the NFB cut 14 per cent of its workforce in 2024, closed regional production studios across the country, and has been chronically underfunded for the past two decades. The winning short was produced by Julie Roy<\/a>, who now heads the federal arts funding agency Telefilm, which still hasn\u2019t received the permanent annual funding increase<\/a> that it was promised by the Liberal Party way back in 2021. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Tamara Deverell, left, and Shane Vieau, winners of the Best Production Design for ‘Frankenstein.’Jordan Strauss\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, though it was wonderful to see the made-in-Canada success of the artists behind KPop Demon Hunters and Frankenstein, both of those productions were only made possible because they were funded by Netflix. And it is that U.S. streaming giant that is in the midst of a dragged out legal fight over the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11), which was designed to compel foreign-owned streamers to contribute a portion of their Canadian revenues to help fund homegrown film and television production. <\/p>\n

What is Ottawa\u2019s current position on C-11? While the bill is far from a perfect piece of legislation, and is in fact exceptionally weak in its measures when compared to similar laws in places such as France, it is now apparently part of trade negotiations<\/a> with the United States, which considers the measure an \u201cirritant,\u201d according to Miller. In other words: Don\u2019t expect Ottawa to fight for C-11 with their elbows or anything else up. <\/p>\n

Opinion: In Ottawa, the Heritage Department is a revolving door at best, a nuisance at worst<\/a><\/p>\n

And then there is the CBC of it all. Whether you appreciate its current iteration or not, the broadcasting corporation is a central component of the country\u2019s screen sector, and so far, everyone in Ottawa \u2013 on both sides of the aisle \u2013 seems intent on weakening it. There is of course Poilievre\u2019s entire campaign of defunding the CBC \u2013 which makes his sop last night to artistic success all the more ridiculous \u2013 but also new reports<\/a> that the Liberals are looking to cut the broadcaster\u2019s funding by $192-million in 2026-27.<\/p>\n

If Canadian politicians would like to score easy points off the hard work of artists, that\u2019s their prerogative. But it is also up to Canadian audiences \u2013 consumers who appreciate that our country\u2019s boldest and brightest creative voices have important and inspiring stories to tell each other and the rest of the world \u2013 to call out double-speak when they see it.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

From left to right: Mike Hill, Cliona Furey and Jordan Samuel, winners of the Best Makeup and Hairstyling for ‘Frankenstein.’Mike Coppola\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Oscar-winning Lavis had the right idea when he spoke up for C-11 while in the Academy Awards press room: \u201cYou cannot compete with these giants without funding work. It\u2019s impossible,\u201d the filmmaker said. \u201cPart of that involves actually getting a tax from Amazon and Netflix and all those companies that are getting a free ride in this country. I think it\u2019s important that they contribute more than just movies, but actually contribute to the Canadian Media Fund and to Canadian funds. It\u2019s really, really important if we\u2019re going to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Ottawa wants to ensure that there is steady pipeline of Oscar winners to congratulate for generations to come \u2013 filmmakers who are able to showcase Canadian stories and perspectives and values on the world stage, the most appealing and frankly sexiest form of soft power that there is \u2013 then they should pause the empty platitudes and start putting money where their mouths are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: From left to right: Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong, winners…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,134,344,21363],"class_list":["post-544518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-noastack"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}