Newfoundland and Labrador film ‘Little Orphans’ wins top prize in Whistler

Rhiannon Morgan, as shown in this handout image, stars in the film "Little Orphans," directed by Ruth Lawrence and shot in St. John's, N.L. The film won this year's Borsos Award for best Canadian feature film at the Whistler Film Festival in Whistler, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Imagine That Productions- Jessie Brinkman Evans

By The Staff The Canadian Press

Posted December 21, 2020 3:48 pm

Updated December 21, 2020 3:49 pm

A Newfoundland and Labrador film about the agonizing disorderliness of family took home a tidy sum and the top prize at this year’s Whistler Film Festival.

The festival announced Sunday its jury awarded “Little Orphans” the Borsos Award for best Canadian feature film.

“Little Orphans” stars its writer, Emily Bridger, alongside Rhiannon Morgan of “Away from Everywhere” and Marthe Bernard of “Republic of Doyle.” The movie is shot in St. John’s, N.L., and is directed by Ruth Lawrence, a well-known filmmaker and theatre artist in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The film tells the story of three adult sisters dealing with the fallout from an unstable childhood and a tangled relationship with their mother.

The win comes with $15,000 from the Directors Guild of Canada and $20,000 worth of work from Company 3, a California-based post-production film company.

The Whistler Film Festival ran online from Dec. 1 to Dec. 20 and included 30 feature films and 67 short films.