A small, formally adventurous feature set in East Van has received a whopping six nominations at the year’s Canadian Screen Awards. 

Announced today (February 18), The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open scored noms for best motion picture, achievement in cinematography (Norm Li), direction (Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Maija Tailfeathers), performance by an actress (both Elle-Maija Tailfeathers and Violet Nelson), and original screenplay (Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Maija Tailfeathers).

It’s a stunning achievement for the film, which was only outperformed, if barely, by Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century with seven nominations, and Sophie Desrape’s Antigone (eight) and The Song of Names (nine). Only one of those features, Antigone, has opened in Vancouver.

After receiving its western Canadian premiere at VIFF, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open went on to be named best Canadian film of 2019 by both the Toronto and Vancouver critics circles.

The story of two strangers thrown together by unhappy circumstances, told in real time, it also received plaudits from U.S. critics.

The full list of noms is here. The Canadian Screen Awards take place March 29.