The Prism Prize results are in: Mustafa has won the 2022 Grand Prize, honouring "outstanding artistry in [Canadian] music video production," for the music video for his song "Ali."
For directing the video, the Toronto-hailing folk phenom was awarded $20,000, as determined by Prism's 130-person jury of media professionals. The announcement was made at the annual Prism Prize gala last night (July 7) at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto.
"In our tenth year of the Prism Prize, it is clearer than ever that Canadian creatives are continuing to take the art of music videos to new heights, offering compelling and emotional visuals for audiences everywhere" said Louis Calabro, the founder of the Prism Prize and Interim CEO at the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. "Mustafa's 'Ali' is no exception — the video is the perfect accompaniment to the deeply moving song, a beautiful tribute to Mustafa's dear late friend, Ali Rizeig."
As Mustafa could not attend the gala, Ali Rizeig's sister, Limees Rizeig, delivered a speech in his stead, where she announced that Mustafa had pledged to donate his $20,000 Grand Prize winnings to charities and initiatives of the Rizeig siblings' mother's choice.
The video for "Ali" was one of 10 Canadian music videos shortlisted for the award, also determined by the jury. This year's shortlist also included videos for songs by BADBADNOTGOOD (two entries), Haviah Mighty, the Beaches, Khanvict, Debby Friday, Simon Leoza, Andy Shauf and Chad VanGaalen. Each of the directors of the shortlisted videos received $1,000 courtesy of the Slaight Family Foundation.
The 10 shortlisted videos were also up for the Audience Award (supported by Stingray), a $5,000 cash prize as determined by a public vote; this year's winner is Anjali Nayar's video for "Closer" by Khanvict.
Mustafa had already been named the recipient of the third annual Willie Dunn Award (one of the 2022 Prism Prize's four Special Awards) for demonstrating "excellence within the music, music video and/or film production communities," which came with a $2,500 prize and the honour of awarding an additional $2,500 to an emerging Canadian artist. At the ceremony, it was revealed that Mustafa had chosen Toronto rapper Puffy L'z.
As previously reported, this year's other Special Awards went to Montreal-based pop innovator Chiiild (the Hi-Fidelity Award, for "recording artists who utilize music videos in innovative ways"), Toronto-based director Iris Kim (the Lipsett Award, for "a unique approach to music video art") and Toronto-based director and Elton John collaborator Sammy Rawal (the Special Achievement Award for "an exceptional contribution to music video art on the world stage").
All of the prize winners will receive $2,500 in equipment rental grants courtesy of partners at William F. White International Inc.
Previous Grand Prize winners include Theo Kapodistrias for Haviah Mighty's "Thirteen" (2021), Peter Huang for Jessie Reyez's "Far Away" (2020) and Kevan Funk for Belle Game's "Low" (2019). As this was the first in-person Prism Prize awards ceremony since 2019, all three of those directors presented this year's Grand Prize.
For directing the video, the Toronto-hailing folk phenom was awarded $20,000, as determined by Prism's 130-person jury of media professionals. The announcement was made at the annual Prism Prize gala last night (July 7) at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto.
"In our tenth year of the Prism Prize, it is clearer than ever that Canadian creatives are continuing to take the art of music videos to new heights, offering compelling and emotional visuals for audiences everywhere" said Louis Calabro, the founder of the Prism Prize and Interim CEO at the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. "Mustafa's 'Ali' is no exception — the video is the perfect accompaniment to the deeply moving song, a beautiful tribute to Mustafa's dear late friend, Ali Rizeig."
As Mustafa could not attend the gala, Ali Rizeig's sister, Limees Rizeig, delivered a speech in his stead, where she announced that Mustafa had pledged to donate his $20,000 Grand Prize winnings to charities and initiatives of the Rizeig siblings' mother's choice.
The video for "Ali" was one of 10 Canadian music videos shortlisted for the award, also determined by the jury. This year's shortlist also included videos for songs by BADBADNOTGOOD (two entries), Haviah Mighty, the Beaches, Khanvict, Debby Friday, Simon Leoza, Andy Shauf and Chad VanGaalen. Each of the directors of the shortlisted videos received $1,000 courtesy of the Slaight Family Foundation.
The 10 shortlisted videos were also up for the Audience Award (supported by Stingray), a $5,000 cash prize as determined by a public vote; this year's winner is Anjali Nayar's video for "Closer" by Khanvict.
Mustafa had already been named the recipient of the third annual Willie Dunn Award (one of the 2022 Prism Prize's four Special Awards) for demonstrating "excellence within the music, music video and/or film production communities," which came with a $2,500 prize and the honour of awarding an additional $2,500 to an emerging Canadian artist. At the ceremony, it was revealed that Mustafa had chosen Toronto rapper Puffy L'z.
As previously reported, this year's other Special Awards went to Montreal-based pop innovator Chiiild (the Hi-Fidelity Award, for "recording artists who utilize music videos in innovative ways"), Toronto-based director Iris Kim (the Lipsett Award, for "a unique approach to music video art") and Toronto-based director and Elton John collaborator Sammy Rawal (the Special Achievement Award for "an exceptional contribution to music video art on the world stage").
All of the prize winners will receive $2,500 in equipment rental grants courtesy of partners at William F. White International Inc.
Previous Grand Prize winners include Theo Kapodistrias for Haviah Mighty's "Thirteen" (2021), Peter Huang for Jessie Reyez's "Far Away" (2020) and Kevan Funk for Belle Game's "Low" (2019). As this was the first in-person Prism Prize awards ceremony since 2019, all three of those directors presented this year's Grand Prize.
