A documentary on a Mississauga man who fought to keep his lawn un-mowed has won two Canadian film prizes.

The short documentary, A Wolf in the Suburbs, directed by Québec filmmaker Amélie Hardy and produced by Rosalie Chicoine-Perreault, won the Canadian Grand Prize and the FIPRESCI International Critic Award at the 2026 REGARDS Festival in Chicoutimi, Québec this weekend.

The Canadian Grand Prize is accompanied by a $3,000 grant from Université du Québec à Chicoutimi and $20,000 in equipment rental from MTL Grandé, the REGARDS Festival said in a press release.

The International Critic Award includes a $1,500 grant from the Bureau du cinéma de Saguenay and $3,000 in equipment rental from SLA Location.

“Kudos to director, Amélie Hardy; producer Rosalie Chicoine-Perreault; cinematographer, Myriam Payette; the film crew; and Travelling Distribution for a well-deserved start to the 2026 film festival season,” Ruck said in an email.

The 18-minute documentary tells the story of Mississauga resident Wolf Ruck’s battle to keep his lawn a pollinator habitat. Since 2021, Ruck has been fighting a city bylaw that prohibits grass over 20 centimetres in height and certain nuisance weeds. This January, the court found the Mississauga bylaw provisions infringed on Ruck’s right to freedom of expression.

Crews filmed at Ruck’s home on Lincolnshire Boulevard in Mississauga for six days last August.

Ruck welcomed the film crews to tell his story.

“This isn’t just a garden—it’s a living film set, a creative collaboration, and a tangible example of how we can re-imagine our cities in the face of biodiversity loss and climate change,” Ruck said last year. “The story we’re telling here will resonate far beyond Mississauga.”

The film debuted at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas on March 14. Ruck says it will also be showing in the Hot Docs Festival, which runs from April 23 to May 3 in Toronto.


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