‘We’re so proud to represent Canada’: Sarah Polley, Domee Shi and more Canadians at the 2023 Oscars on the power of our stories

“It’s Canada’s moment,” said Zaib Shaikh.

The former Canadian actor (“Little Mosque on the Prairie”), now Canada’s consul general in Los Angeles, has a point.

There is a healthy crop of Canadians and Canadian-led films nominated for Oscars at Sunday’s Academy Awards, including James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” and Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking,” which are both up for Best Picture.

In keeping with tradition, Shaikh welcomed the Canadian nominees at a private reception at Canada House in L.A. on Thursday evening. The event was attended by many, including Toronto filmmakers Polley and Domee Shi, and Canadian-American actor Brendan Fraser, nominated for Best Actor for “The Whale.”

“We’re just so proud to represent Canada,” Shaikh said ahead of the reception in a virtual interview.

“We’re really shining, we’re outpacing and we’re getting the recognition in a way finally that we deserve … Mary Pickford came from Toronto to Hollywood and helped start the first artists-driven studio with United Artists with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and others. So we’ve always been part of the DNA of Hollywood, now we just get to celebrate a lot of it,” he said.

Polley, who is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for “Women Talking,” has been enjoying this awards season experience.

The moment isn’t lost on Domee Shi, either, the Chinese-born Canadian filmmaker who won an Oscar for in 2019 for her animated short film “Bao” and whose “Turning Red” is nominated for Best Animated Feature Film Sunday.

“It’s been such a kind year and there’s been a sense of camaraderie, and I’ve learned a lot,” she said in an interview. “I’ve also found it a really creative process because I’m developing a project based on the experience of going through award season.

“I thought I was going to be more cynical about it and there’s certainly lots you could choose to be cynical about. I don’t think I realized how much joy I was going to get out of the experience because, ultimately, art is not a competitive sport (but) I’ve been surprised by how meaningful many of the moments have been.”

Taking part in awards season has been unreal, according to “Women Talking” actor Sheila McCarthy, a veteran of Canadian film and TV. “For years, I’ve been watching the Oscars going, ‘Someday, maybe I could be there,’ and so here I am, and to be here to celebrate Sarah Polley and her excellence, I’m so honoured to be part of her movie, too.”

“This is such a personal film for me as it’s based on my own life growing up in Toronto as a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl,” she said. “It’s a love letter to Toronto. So it’s huge that this movie has been commercially, critically successful, just to have it recognized at the Oscars. I think it hopefully shows studios that if they invest in different kinds of storytellers, different kinds of stories, that it will resonate with audiences.”

For Mississauga-born Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (“Never Have I Ever”), who voices a character in “Turning Red,” putting Toronto on the map has been thrilling. “I never thought that there would be a Pixar movie set in Toronto,” she said. “Canadian stories have that power. I think they’re unique, but they are still relatable and people feel themselves in those stories.”

Kitchener-raised director Chris Williams is competing in the same category as “Turning Red” with “The Sea Beast.”

“There’s something that I feel that’s true of Canadians is that we really celebrate the power of the collective and the power of the community, and that we prioritize the well-being of the community that ultimately is good for your own personal well-being,” he said. “I think that sort of approach really lends itself to animation because it’s such a collective endeavour.”

Williams attributes the Oscar recognition for Canadian animators over the years to the National Film Board. “I grew up watching those incredible animated films and really being inspired by them, and they were great and I could see they were made in Canada. It made it very tangible and it felt like it was within reach,” he said.

Calgary filmmakers Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, nominated with producer David Christensen in the Best Animated Short category for “The Flying Sailor,” also credit the NFB for Canada’s strong animation track record.

“We’re really proud of the institution, we’re really proud of the fact that it supports filmmaking (that’s) not necessarily going to turn a profit but that is a sincere expression of something unique … And of course, we’re always proud to represent Canada in the U.S.”

Canada is well represented by documentaries, too, including Best Documentary Feature front-runner “Navalny” by Toronto’s Daniel Roher. Montreal producer Ina Fichman is nominated in the same category for the doc “Fire of Love.”

“I think for many of us, who’ve made documentaries for so long, you were very proud that this form of storytelling has really captured the hearts and minds of viewers worldwide, and certainly in Canada,” she said.

Shi believes it’s the diversity of Canadian storytelling that strikes a chord with audiences. “Getting an opportunity to show the Canada that I grew up in, with the diversity in Toronto, with all of the immigrant classmates and friends and I grew up with, the food, the neighbourhoods like Chinatown and Kensington Market, I think it’s something that a lot of audiences haven’t seen before.”

But while the Oscars have made strides in terms of representation, there’s still a long way to go, according to Shi and Polley.

“The last couple of years looked good or at least a bit better. But it’s still weak,” Polley said. “I think that when you see a lack of inclusion (in) things like awards … it is a symptom of a larger systemic issue in terms of what voices we’re listening to and who’s being heard, who’s getting financing for films and who’s getting momentum.”

Ramakrishnan said she hopes Canada moves further away from its “little brother energy” when compared to the U.S. “We also have just as important stories to tell, so have that story set in Toronto, in Vancouver, Calgary or anywhere else.”

The moment isn’t lost on Domee Shi, either, the Chinese-born Canadian filmmaker who won an Oscar for in 2019 for her animated short film “Bao” and whose “Turning Red” is nominated for Best Animated Feature Film Sunday.

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