Prism Prize Announces 2023 Special Award Honourees

The annual awards event will celebrate Nemahsis, Aimé Irabahaye, Adrian Villagomez and Sara Elgamal

BY Ben OkazawaPublished Jun 27, 2023

The Prism Prize, an annual awards event that recognizes outstanding artistry in music video production, has announced this year's Special Award recipients, chosen for their achievements in and exceptional contributions to the music industry in Canada and abroad. The four winning artists will be honoured at the live screening and awards show in Toronto on July 6, where the Grand Prize and Audience Award winners will also be unveiled. 

Toronto-based pop singer and Exclaim! New Faves alum Nemahsis is this year's recipient of the Hi-Fidelity Award — supported by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada's Private Radio Broadcasters — presented to artists who use music videos in innovative ways. Her recent videos include February's "i wanna be your right hand" and last December's "criminal." Past winners of the award include Chiiild (2022), Grimes (2018) and July Talk (2017). 

Montreal-based director Aimé Irabahaye is the recipient of the Lipsett Award presented to creatives who take a unique approach to music video art. His work for Skiifall, Chiiild, Planet Giza and more netted him the award. 

Adrian Villagomez, also a director from Montreal, won the Special Achievement Award supported by the Slaight Family Foundation for exceptional contributions to music video art on the world stage. Director X, who will also be presenting at the show, took home the award in 2016. Villagomez has most notably contributed to music videos from Jean-Michel Blais, Denzel Curry and Ariane Roy. 

Toronto director Sara Elgamal was awarded the Willie Dunn Award, named after the late Montreal-born musician, director and politician. The award, supported by Telefilm Canada, is presented to a trailblazer within the music, music video and/or film production fields. As part of the award, Elgamal will select an emerging Canadian creative to showcase during the Prism Prize event, who will be the beneficiary of $2,500.

Egyptian-Canadian stand-up comedian Moe Ismail is slated to host the event, which promises to be a night of celebrating the best in Canadian music video artistry, and will reveal which of the Top 10 finalists will take home the $20,000 Grand Prize for top Canadian music video of the year. One of the Top 10 music videos will also be crowned the winner of the fan-voted Audience Award, supported by Stingray, which comes with a $5,000 prize. To view the Top 10 Canadian music videos of the year and to learn more about the Prism Prize, visit prismprize.ca.

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