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Ladies and gentlemen, Brian Mulroney is this year’s winner of the WIFF Prize for Canadian Film at the Windsor International Film Festival. Director Matthew Rankin received an award at the festival today and received a cash prize of $25,000. The jury praised the originality of the film’s vision and the eccentric use of archival materials to play fast and loose with the story of Brian Mulroney’s 18-year-old life.e Prime Minister of Canada.
Receiving the award from Jury President Michael Mabbott (Another Way: The Jackie Shane Story) and WIFF Executive Director and Chief Programmer Vincent Georgie, Rankin placed Elbows Up, Knees Down in a climate and spoke of the role of festivals like WIFF in building community around films and cultural institutions like the National Film Board of Canada, which produced the documentary. Which we are also quite proud of.”
Rankin gave special thanks to two of his collaborators in the room, archival producer Marika Lapointe, “who was there throughout the project to encourage me and to reprimand me,” he joked. He also gave a shout out to Melope Monmin for his work on the French version of the film and René Lévesque for playing the role of the feet.
“For sheer originality, a uniquely Canadian voice, intelligence and humour, we are delighted to present the 2026 WIFF Prize for Canadian Film. Ladies and gentlemen, Brian Mulroney“, – said the jury statement of the WIFF Canadian film prize. “In this film, Matthew Rankin has created a surreal historical deconstruction and reconstruction, a political satire that looks like a political thriller. It eschews all the usual biographical tropes as it paints an evocative and informative picture of our past using and beautifully abusing our shared iconography and soundscapes. We also want to acknowledge the amazing work of archive producer Marika Lapointe, who used over 80,000 archive materials to create a beautiful fever dream. Congratulations to Matthew Rankin and his entire team for creating a timely and important piece of gonzo journalism and a timeless work of art.
Ladies and gentlemen, Brian Mulroney Here’s a satirical documentary about a playoff within the Conservative Party of Canada during a politician’s rise to power. This year’s win in Windsor marks the first time a documentary has won WIFF’s Canadian Film Prize. Documentary films were also nominated Bass book, Nothing worksand Run Terry Ranney. The directors of all three films were in attendance at the WIFF Awards, as well as actors Nekai Foster and Darrell Fox. Also present were former Governor General Michael Jean and his wife Jean-Daniel Lafond, whose documentary. Draw me a bridgeGordie Howe on International Bridge will have its world premiere at WIFF later this week. WIFF runs until November 8.
