Doc about B.C. residential school among Canadian Oscar nominees

A documentary that follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at a residential school near Sugar Cane reserve in Williams Lake, B.C. has been nominated for an Oscar.

“Sugarcane,” from Secwépemc filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat and Toronto journalist Emily Kassie is up for the best documentary feature award.

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The doc is a haunting account of deaths, abuse, suicides and missing children at the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School.

NoiseCat appears in the film with his father Ed Archie NoiseCat, who was born at the facility. The film explores long-standing allegations that priests who fathered children with school residents sent the infants to an incinerator.

Kassie is an Emmy and Peabody-nominated investigative journalist who connected with NoiseCat to work on the film when she began looking into St. Joseph’s Mission.

Also among the Canadian nominees announced Thursday morning is Quebec-born filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, whose film “Dune: Part Two” is in the running for best picture.

The sequel to 2021’s “Dune” follows Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, who joins forces with Zendaya’s Chani and the Fremen as he seeks revenge against those who destroyed his family.

Montreal’s Patrice Vermette and Dartmouth, N.S.’s Shane Vieau, who worked on the film’s production design team, also received a nomination for production design.

Meanwhile, Toronto’s Linda Muir has been nominated for best costume design for her work on “Nosferatu,” Robert Eggers’ remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film.

Muir has worked in film, television and theatre since the 1970s, and has Canadian Screen Awards for her work on Atom Egoyan’s 1994 erotic thriller “Exotica” and John Greyson’s 1996 drama “Lilies.”

She’s worked with Eggers on previous horror films, including 2015’s “The Witch” and 2019’s “The Lighthouse,” as well as his 2022 historical action film “The Northman.”

Another “Nosferatu” creative — Newmarket, Ont.’s Traci Loader — is part of the team up for best makeup and hairstyling.

The 97th Academy Awards will take place March 2 in Los Angeles.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2025

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press