Actor-writer-director Koumbie's film Bystanders scored the most Screen Nova Scotia award nominations.

Here's all the local movies nominated for a 2023 Screen Nova Scotia award

Koumbie's film Bystanders, Floyd Kane's drama Diggstown and more local shows are celebrated.

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After a record-setting year in Nova Scotia films–with more productions than ever calling "action" across the province—the latest Screen Nova Scotia nominees have been announced. The potential winners for the May 13 awards shows off just how many great stories are being made here, from Floyd Kane's hit legal drama Diggstown (which netted four nominations) to Kevin Hartford's indie-cool dramedy Lemon Squeezy (which is in the running in two categories).

Why did CBC end the Halifax legal drama Diggstown?: The four key takeaways from show runner Floyd Kane’s bombshell interview with Variety magazine.

FIN 2022: When life gave director Kevin Hartford lemons, he made Lemon Squeezy: On the eve of his feature debut at FIN, the Halifax director talks comedic sensibilities and making your own luck.

The leader of the nominees, though? The debut feature from actor-writer-director Koumbie, called Bystanders. The Best Feature contender asks "What do you do when someone you like does something you hate?” as the filmmaker explained to The Coast at the movie's premiere last fall at FIN Atlantic International Film Festival. The flick is also nominated for Best Director and four of its cast members are up for awards for their performances, giving it a total of six nominations.

FIN 2022: Halifax filmmaker Koumbie knows we’re all Bystanders: Her first feature film, showing at FIN this weekend, asks “What do you do when someone you like does something you hate?”

Peep the full list of nominees below:

Best Feature Film

Bystanders (Picture Plant Limited)

Compulsus (Paw Paw Pictures)

Kids VS Aliens (Shut Up & Colour Pictures)

Lemon Squeezy (Blurry Logo Productions)

Queens of the Qing Dynasty (Hi-Vis Film)

Best Documentary Film

Bernie Langille Wants To Know What Happened to Bernie Langille (Peep Media / Director Jackie Torrens)
How The Wild Things Sleep (Tell Tale Productions / Directors P.J. Naworynski, Daniela Pulverer and Boris Ram)
On the Fringe (Broken Turtle Productions / Director Cory Thibert)
Words Matter / Klusuaqnn Ajkne’kl (Princess Space Monster Films / Director Stephanie Joline)

Best Short Film

Keeper (Tori Fleming & Morgan Salter)

Mother's Skin (Pretty Fierce Films)

Music Resistance (Story-book Entertainment)

The Year Long Boulder (Enodia Films)

Best Television Series: Scripted

Diggstown S4 (Waterstar Entertainment, Circle Blue Entertainment)
Sugar Highs S1 (Emotion Pictures)
This Hour Has 22 Minutes S29 (22M Hour Productions)
Vollies S2 (Canadian Content Studios)

Best Television Series: Unscripted
Les quatres coins de l'assiette (Connections Productions / Director Ryan Doucette)
Living in Flow (Gorgeous Mistake Productions / Director Meaghan Wright)
Pub Crawl S2 (Popular Demand Pictures / Director Jon Mann Spirit) Talker S3 (Tell Tale Productions / Director Pepper O’Bomsawin)

Best Animated Series

Solar Opposites S3 (Copernicus Studios Inc)
The Casagrandes S3 (Jam Filled Entertainment)

Outstanding Achievement in Editing

Shawn Beckwith
Sarah Byrne
Kim McTaggart
Amy Mielke

WIFT-AT: Best Nova Scotia Director Award

Rachel Bower, The Noodle Group
Leah Johnston, Mother's Skin
Koumbie, Bystanders
Jackie Torrens, Bernie Langille Wants to Know What Happened to Bernie Langille

ACTRA Maritimes Awards for Outstanding Performances

Gil Anderson in Diggstown S4
Mauralea Austin in Diggstown S4
Ursula Calder in Sugar Highs S1
Trina Corkum in Trapped
Samuel Davison in Sugar Highs S1
Kirstin Howell in Moonshine S2
Calem MacDonald in Kids VS Aliens
Stephanie MacDonald in Sugar Highs S1
Bob Mann in From S1
Hollis McLaren in Diggstown S4
Briar Mosher in Mother’s Skin
Taylor Olson in Bystanders
Thom Payne in Sugar Highs S1
Reid Price in King & Pawn
Phoebe Rex in Kids VS Aliens
Marlee Sansom in Bystanders
Peter Sarty in Bystanders
Lesley Smith in Compulsus
Shelley Thompson in King & Pawn
Shelley Thompson in Moonshine S2

The Groundbreaking Performance Award

Patrick Cadegan in Sleepwatching
Deborah Castrilli in Bystanders
Tato’ Crisanto in Lemon Squeezy
Camille Horton-Poole in Lemon Squeezy
Malloy Thurber in SuperBlood
Greg Vardy in Tracy and Martina’s Dirty Deeds
Ziyin Zheng in Queens of the Qing Dynasty

About The Author

Morgan Mullin

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Morgan was the Arts & Entertainment Editor at The Coast, where she wrote about everything from what to see and do around Halifax to profiles of the city’s creative class to larger cultural pieces. She started with The Coast in 2016.