Jessie Reyez' Far Away Video Wins Prism Prize

By FYI Staff

Jessie Reyez’s Far Away music video, directed by Peter Huang, is the Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Prism Prize and the $20,000 cash award (increased from $15,000, thanks to a contribution from Stingray).

The fan-voted Audience Award was awarded to directors Keavan Yazdani and Sean Brown for the Daniel Caesar ft. Koffee music video Cyanide Remix.

The announcements were made yesterday (July 23), along with the presentation to singer/songwriter Daniela Andrade of the Hi-Fidelity Award (supported by FACTOR), one established to recognize recording artists who utilize music video in innovative ways;

Now in its eighth year, The Prism Prize recognizes outstanding artistry in Canadian music videos. A jury of over 120 Canadian creative arts professionals voted on the 2020 Grand Prize.

Louis Calabro, VP of Programming & Awards at the Canadian Academy and Founder of Prism Prize, stated that “Music videos offer the unique opportunity to add depth and meaning to a song for an unforgiving look at the world at large. We could not be more honoured to crown Peter Huang’s Far Away the 2020 Prism Prize Grand Prize winner, a video that is an unfortunate representation of reality for many people.”

Following the cancellation of the in-person 2020 Prism Prize screening and awards presentation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the virtual event on July 23 celebrated the Top 20 music videos of the year and Special Award winners, narrated by Canadian rapper and Polaris Prize winner Haviah Mighty and written by music journalist and editor Del Cowie.

Also honoured in the virtual presentation were three previously announced 2020 Special Award winners, a group of groundbreaking Canadians who have had a profound impact on the music video industry. Creative filmmaking production house Tranquilo was the recipient of the Lipsett Award (sponsored by iHeartRadio Canada), established to celebrate a unique approach to music video art, and pop videographer Bardia Zeinali was granted the Special Achievement Award (presented by Slaight Music), established to recognize an exceptional contribution to music video art on the world stage.

Famed creative director and choreographer LaurieAnn Gibson was awarded the inaugural Willie Dunn Award, honouring a Canadian trailblazer who has demonstrated excellence within the music video community. As the recipient of this award, Gibson was asked to select an emerging filmmaker to be the beneficiary of $5,000 courtesy of the Canadian Academy; she selected Noor Khan, an emerging Scarborough-based director and producer.

All Prism Prize Award recipients, including the Grand Prize, Audience Award, and all Special Award winners, receive equipment rental grants in the amount of $2,500, courtesy of partners at William F. White International Inc. All Top 20 runners-up receive a $500 cash prize courtesy of Patron partner Slaight Music and MVP Project partner RBCxMusic.

View all 20 shortlisted nominees for the Grand Prize here.

Read FYI's review of the winning song/video here