Haviah Mighty Wins 2021 Prism Prize

Evan Elliot and Lance Sampson also took home the Audience Award for their video for "Pay It Forward" by Aquakultre

BY Allie GregoryPublished Jul 27, 2021

Haviah Mighty has just been awarded the 2021 Prism Prize for the music video for her song "Thirteen."

Director Theo Kapodistrias will receive a $20,000 grand prize for the honour, as deliberated by Prism's 130-person jury of media professionals.

"Music videos have always possessed the power to expand a viewer's experience beyond the song," Louis Calabro, VP of programming and awards, said in a statement. "With 'Thirteen,' Haviah and Theo take it one step further with their powerful and important storytelling. This is artwork that we are honoured to add to the distinguished list of Prism Prize Grand Prize winners."

In addition to Haviah Mighty's win, Aquakultre's Evan Elliot- and Lance Sampson-directed video for "Pay It Forward" has taken home the fan-voted Audience Award.

Other honours include the Hi-Fidelity Award, which was given to multimedia collective Crack Cloud; the Lipsett Award, which was presented to director/photographer Gennelle Cruz; and the Special Achievement Award, which went to Jordan Oram.

Additionally, the second annual Willie Dunn Award went to Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. The award — which is presented to Canadian trailblazers who have "demonstrated excellence within the music, music video and/or film production communities" — comes with a $2,500 honorarium. As a recipient, Simpson was asked to select an emerging filmmaker to award the cash prize. She selected Inuk musician Beatrice Deer as the recipient.

All winners will receive $2,500 in equipment rental grants courtesy of partners at William F. White International Inc. 

All other shortlisters — including Andy Shauf, Clairmont The Second, Lido Pimienta, Mustafa, Rich Aucoin, Savannah Ré, Sean Leon, TOBi and Witch Prophet — will receive a $1,000 prize, courtesy of Slaight Music.

Previous Prism Prize winners include Peter Huang for Jessie Reyez's "Far Away" and Fantavious Fritz for Charlotte Day Wilson's "Work."

Revisit Kapodistrias' video for Haviah Mighty's "Thirteen" below.

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