A Canadian Screen Awards that put marginalized voices front and center and challenged the global political landscape saw The Apprentice, a film about a young Donald Trump, dominate the national film and TV awards Sunday night in Toronto.
Director Ali Abbasi’s Trump origin story won best movie, while Sebastian Stan, the Romania-born American actor who plays the future U.S. president alongside Jeremy Strong as his consigliere Roy Cohn, earned top honors for best leading role.
Daniel Bekerman, co-producer of the Canada/Ireland/Denmark co-production The Apprentice, said when accepting the prize, “Our movie shows how the young Donald Trump amassed wealth and power by finding a dilapidated building and slapping his name on it as president. We’ll see how that works out.”
Then Bekerman turned to Trump taunting Canada as a possible 51st state for the United States. “Now he wants to slap his name on this country. This is a challenge, but a good challenge, because as independent filmmakers and storytellers, what we need to do, what is our responsibility, is to tell stories with honesty that can build trust and build community. The rise of indigenous cinema in this country gives me hope. The rise of queer cinema in this country gives me hope. But we’re faced with power structures that want to silence us. It’s time to lock arms,” he added.
Bekerman added that The Apprentice, which bowed in Cannes, received nominations at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. “But Ali, I told you, you have to come to Canada if you want to find some guts in this industry,” he said in a call-out to director Abbasi in the audience.
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