Mustafa Wins 2024 Prism Prize As 'Name Of God' Named Best Canadian Music Video of the Year
Nemahsis has also won the fan-voted Audience Award for 'i wanna be your right hand,' while four other Special Award Recipients have been named by the event honouring excellence in Canadian music video production.
Mustafa
Mustafa has become the first two-time winner of the Prism Prize. He wins the 2024 Grand Prize for Canadian music video of the year for "Name of God."
Mustafa, also known as Mustafa Ahmed and Mustafa The Poet, also took home the award in 2022 for "Ali." Both of his winning videos are self-directed. Mustafa's win comes with a $20,000 prize, the largest monetary award for music videos worldwide.
“Congratulations to Mustafa, who consistently creates videos that beautifully complement his music, and to all our award recipients, who are elevating the industry with their creativity and commitment to the art form," says Prism Prize founder Louis Calabro, who is also the Vice-President of Programming & Awards at the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
Mustafa released "Name of God" last year days after penning a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging him to speak for Palestine. The song and video touch on violence and grief as well as the power of community and tradition.
Mustafa isn't this year's only winner. Nemahsis has won the fan-voted Audience Award, winning "i wanna be your right hand." That $2,500 prize goes to both artist Nemahsis and directors Norman Wong and Amy Gardner. The video takes the Palestinian-Canadian artist in a choreographed dance through a restaurant kitchen and into a showstopping empty-room dining hall performance.
Mustafa and Nemahsis beat out a strong shortlist of videos, including clips from The Beaches, Feist, Snotty Nose Rez Kids and more. See the whole list here.
The Prism Prize recognizes outstanding artistry in music video production. Today (June 25), it also announced four 2024 Special Award Recipients, as below. All receive a $2,500 honorarium.
The Hi-Fidelity Award, established to recognize recording artists who utilize music videos in innovative ways, is presented to shy kids. The Toronto team of multi-faceted artists is both a band and a small but versatile production company. Their animation, dubbed “punk-rock Pixar,” has garnered recognition from the Emmys and the Oscars.
The Lipsett Award, established to celebrate a unique approach to music video art, is awarded to Jessamine Yú Fok, a Toronto-based film and video director. Most recently, she directed music videos for "Trippy Staircase to Portal Wonderland" by Korea Town Acid and "Liberté Égalité Sagacité" by Pierre Kwenders, which were both shortlisted for the Berlin Commercial Festival in 2023.
The Special Achievement Award, established to recognize an exceptional contribution to music video art on the world stage, is presented to Ethan Tobman. He helms the design studio Remote Design Inc and was a creative director for Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour. He also directed Allison Russell's Juno-winning "Demons" video (which was also shortlisted for this year's Prism Prize).
The Willie Dunn Award, presented to a Canadian trailblazer who has demonstrated excellence within the music, music video and/or film production communities, is awarded to Canadian rapper TOBi. As the recipient of this award, TOBi gets to select an emerging Canadian creative to honour as an additional beneficiary of $2,500. He has chosen Niyi Adeogun, a Nigerian/Canadian interdisciplinary artist, design engineer, creative entrepreneur and creative director.
The Prism Prize Class of 2024 will be celebrated at an event in Toronto at the Paradise Theatre on July 16 (moving from its former home at the TIFF Lightbox). The event will feature a screening of all music videos featured in the Prism Prize Top 10 shortlist, as well as videos from the Special Award recipients. All creative teams from the Top 10 will receive complimentary memberships to the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, courtesy of Telefilm Canada, while the nine runners-up to the Grand Prize will receive a $1,000 cash prize, courtesy of the Academy.
The Prism Prize Grand Prize winner is selected from the Top 10 shortlist of Canadian music videos as evaluated by the Prism Prize jury, composed of over 120 leading figures in Canadian music, film,and media arts.
To watch music video work from this year's Special Awards recipients and Top 10 finalists, as well as hundreds of other eligible videos from years past, visit PrismPrize.com.
