2015 MTV Video Music Awards – nominations

The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards nominations are here — so get voting!

The list for the show, airing Sunday, August 30 at 9 p.m. ET/PT — and hosted by Miley Cyrus — is led by Taylor Swift, who is up for nine Moonmen. Following Taylor, pal Ed Sheeran has six noms and is competing against her for the coveted Video of the Year category. We doubt there will be any bad blood, though.

The nominations were announced on Apple’s Beats 1 radio show today. Check out the full list below and start voting now.

The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from L.A.’s Microsoft Theater at 9 p.m. ET, on Sunday, August 30.

2015 Much Music Video Awards – winners

The 2015 Much Music Video Awards were handed out tonight in Toronto at the Much headquarters on Queen Street West. The host of the event was nominee and winner Ed Sheeran in his fourth appearance at the show. On receiving the prize foe Best International Artist, his first of two awards, he said "This is my fourth year and I've never won one — I feel like it's just because I'm presenting. So thank you very much for this."

The biggest winner of the night, however, was the hometown boy The Weeknd (a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye) who picked up four awards on the night, including video of the year. He tied the record for most MMVA wins in one night set by Swollen Members, k-os, and Hedley. He had led all nominees with six mentions. His acceptances were pithy, "I want to thank the fans of course — XO, wouldn't be here without you guys." His performance was medley of "Mood Music" and "Earned It"

Montreal's P Reign picked up the award for Best Hip Hop Video and he received a surprise visit from an unannounced guest. Toronto rapper and co-director of the winning video "DnF," Drake (a.k.a. Aubrey Graham) joined him onstage and received a roaring welcome from the audience. "My brother Drizzy Drake is in the building. That's my brother for life," said P Reign.

28th Images Festival, April 9-18, 2015

The 28th Images Festival is right around the corner, with 10 days of groundbreaking film screenings, live performances and media-based installations taking place throughout Toronto April 9 - 18, 2015. The Images Festival showcases the innovative edge of international contemporary media art through its ON SCREEN, OFF SCREEN and LIVE IMAGES programming.

The Images Festival continues to embrace new modes of creativity for a radical and unforgettable extravaganza of contemporary moving image culture. More than ever, Images engages audiences through our expanded public programming with more talks, tours, guest writers on our iFBLOG, as well as web-based projects and online screenings on our video player iFPOD. Find out more at www.imagesfestival.com

2015 Prism Prize goes to director Chad VanGaalen

On Sunday, March 29, director Chad VanGaalen was announced as the winner of the 2015 Prism Prize for Timber Timbre's Beat The Drum Slowly music video at the Prism Prize Top Ten Screening and Awards Presentation at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario. Chad VanGaalen, who was also nominated for his own song Monster, was on hand to accept the Prism Prize trophy and $5,000 award.

The Prism Prize Audience Award was presented to director Natalie Rae Robison for Kandle's Not Up To Me, based on thousands of online votes collected in collaboration with Noisey Canada.

Also honoured during the event was director Jared Raab, who was in attendance to accept the Arthur Lipsett Award, established to recognize an innovative and unique approach to music video art. The Prism Prize Special Achievement Award, honouring a Canadian music video artist for their artistic achievements and exceptional contribution to music video art on a world stage, was presented to animator and cinematographer Christopher Mills.

Prism Prize for Best Canadian Music Video of 2014 – finalists

Short-List Announcement For Best Canadian Music Video of 2014

The Prism Prize is thrilled to announce the Top Ten Best Canadian Music Videos of 2014, as voted by a jury of more than 120 industry professionals from the worlds of music, film, broadcast and web media. After viewing hundreds of music videos released in 2014, jurors selected the Prism Prize Top Ten based on originality, creativity, style, innovation and effective execution. The jury will vote once more to determine the Prism Prize winner, who will receive a $5,000 Grand Prize at the Awards Presentation on March 29, 2015 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. For the first time ever the Prism Prize Awards Presentation will be open to the public. Tickets are available at www.prismprize.com/tickets

2014 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival announces complete programming

This morning, the complete 15th Anniversary imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival programme was announced at the TIFF Bell Lightbox by Executive Director Jason Ryle, and guests including TIFF's Cameron Bailey and actor Glen Gould.

The 15th Annual imagineNATIVE returns October 22-26, 2014 with the most compelling and distinctive Indigenous works from around the globe featuring: 130 films and videos; nine Radio Works; seven multi-platform New Media works; four art exhibitions featuring 19 media artists; 11 industry panels and public workshops; and 17 commissions. imagineNATIVE will feature 175 artists representing over 70 distinct Indigenous nations from 12 countries.

imagineNATIVE Announces Feature Films & Documentaries and The Witching Hour Program

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, with presenting sponsor Bell Media, announces the return of The Witching Hour: Late Night Shorts Program and the Festival’s feature length films and documentaries. Opening night of the festival will be, People’s Choice Award-winner at TIFF’s Midnight Madness, What We Do In The Shadows, on Wednesday, October 22 at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema with director, Taika Waititi in attendance.

The 15th anniversary of the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will present feature length films from October 22-26, 2014 such as Black Panther Woman, about Marlene Cummins, an Indigenous teen full of political conviction, becoming a member Brisbane’s chapter of the Black Panthers, one of many in Australia in the early 1970s. As part of the Australia Spotlight, on Sunday, October 26, this powerful film will reveal how many Indigenous women paid a hefty price for their loyalty to a cause they thought was about equality for all.

Thursday, October 23 holds the World Premiere of The Lodge, a stunning stop-motion animation adopting equal parts Goldilocks and the traditional Anishnaabe legend of the Dandelion. The Lodge challenges colonial concepts of savagery, critiques the de-humanizing of Indigenous peoples and explores the powerful medicine of our animal relations. Later that night, the deadliness of Russian winters reaches psychologically destructive new ground in the International Premiere of A White Day by director Michail Lukachevskyi of the Yakut Republic.

2014 MTV Video Music Awards – winners

2014 “MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS” TAKE OVER THE LEGENDARY FORUM FOR AN INCREDIBLE NIGHT OF MUSIC FUELED BY EXPLOSIVE PERFORMANCES
JAY Z and Blue Ivy Presented the "Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award" to Beyoncé Who Ruled the Night Winning Three Additional Moonmen;
Miley Cyrus, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Lorde, 5 Seconds of Summer Take Home One Each

MTV hosted an epic night of music with unforgettable performances, unpredictable moments and heartfelt messages as the 2014 "MTV Video Music Awards" were held live at The Forum in Inglewood, CA.

Beyoncé welcomed MTV and the audience to her world as she built on her VMA legacy with a medley of songs from her visual album "Beyoncé." Always the trailblazer, Beyoncé celebrated where she is as an artist today and pulled back the curtain on her family life with poignant images from home movies showing her as a wife and mother. The backdrop throughout her performance reinforced messages of female empowerment and sampled a powerful quote and call to feminism from the prominent Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

2014 Much Music Video Awards – nominations

Much announced today that Toronto's very own rapper Drake and West Coast rockers Hedley are tied at the top the list with an impressive six nominations each for the 2014 MUCH MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS. Vancouver hip hop artist SonReal scored five nods, while indie ensemble Arcade Fire and alternative R&B artist The Weeknd picked up four nominations each.

Both previously announced performers Imagine Dragons and Lorde nabbed two MMVA nominations each, a first for both artists. Additional first-time nominees include music innovator Pharrell, Australian boy band 5 Seconds of Summer, Canadian artists July Talk, Keys N Krates, MAGIC!, Thugli, and many more.

The stellar list of nominees join one of the hottest street parties on the planet as Kendall and Kylie Jenner co-host the 25^th anniversary of the MMVAs, airing live, coast-to-coast-to-coast, Sunday, June 15 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, simulcast on Much, CTV, and CTV GO, with the MMVAs RED CARPET SPECIAL airing just before at 8 p.m. ET, exclusively on Much. Additional performers and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.

Call for submissions: imagineNATIVE 2014

Be part of imagineNATIVE’s 15th Anniversary Year!

Be a part of 15 ground-breaking years showcasing the rise of the Indigenous media arts movement! It’s time to submit your film, video, radio and new media works for the 15th anniversary imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. This year’s Festival runs from October 22-26, 2014 in Toronto, Canada.

imagineNATIVE is an international Festival that celebrates the latest works by Indigenous peoples at the forefront of innovation in film, video, radio and new media. Each fall, the Festival presents a selection of the most compelling and distinctive Indigenous works from Canada and around the globe. The works accepted reflect the diversity of the world's Indigenous nations and illustrate the vitality and excellence of our art and culture in contemporary media. Last year, imagineNATIVE presented 127 works, and had 70+ artists and 15,558 people in attendance at the Festival.

2014 Prism Prize – winners

On Sunday, March 23, director Emily Kai Bock was announced as the winner of the 2014 Prism Prize for Arcade Fire’s Afterlife music video at the Prism Prize Award Reception at The Everleigh in Toronto, Ontario. Emily Kai Bock, who was also nominated for Majical Cloudz’s Childhood’s End this year, was on hand to accept the $5,000.

“Emily made some truly remarkable videos last year,” said Prism Prize Founder and Director Louis Calabro, “it says something that two of Emily’s pieces were on the Top Ten Shortlist. Ultimately, I think our jurors chose Afterlife because it’s thoughtful and well-paced, and because – frankly – it looks beautiful.”

Call for submissions: TSV's Video Fever 2013

Do you have…VIDEO FEVER?

Then you should SUBMIT!

Trinity Square Video, Toronto’s most important video-based artist-run center is proud to announce Video Fever, the first annual juried student video screening event. If you are in your 3rd or 4th year at a Toronto and surrounding area post-secondary institution and you make videos, you qualify. 

Submissions must be single channel videos under 10 minutes in length and will be selected for screening by the Trinity Square Video selection committee. All genres of video are accepted. The top three videos will be chosen by the Trinity Square Video jury and the artists will be awarded cash prizes, a membership to Trinity Square Video (redeemable after you graduate, if you like—when you’ll really need it!), various Trinity Square Video services like equipment use and workshops, and a portfolio review with Trinity Square Video’s programming director, Jean-Paul Kelly. The screening will take place downtown Toronto at the Trinity Square Video Gallery space on January 12, 2013. SUBMIT!

2012 MTV Video Music Awards – winners

The 29th annual MTV Video Music Awards took place last night at The Staples Center in Los Angeles. The host was comedian Kevin Hart and performers included Rihanna, Green Day, Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, Frank Ocean, Lil Wayne, One Direction, Pink, Taylor Swift and 2 Chainz.

Rihanna and Drake each led with five nominations and Rihanna took the top award for "We Found Love". Drake won for Best Hip-Hop Video for "HYFR".

But the night's biggest haul went to the boy band One Direction which won all three of the categories in which they were nominated. Their video for "What Makes You Beautiful" won for Best New Artist, Best Pop Video and Most Share-Worthy Video.

2012 MTV Video Music Awards – nominations

The nominees for the 29th annual MTV Video Music Awards were unveiled today. Rihanna and Drake led the field with five nominations each.

Rihanna's "We Found Love" was nominated for Video of the Year, Best Female Video and Best Pop Video. "Where Have You Been" was nominated for Best Choreography and Best Visual Effects. In addition, she is featured on Drake's "Take Care" which received four nominations, and on Coldplay's "Princess of China" which was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Direction.

The nominations for Drake's "Take Care" were for Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. His fifth nomination was for "HYFR" featuring Lil Wayne, which picked up a Best Hip-Hop Video mention.

2012 Parkdale Film + Video Showcase, June 21–24

Tonight is the opening kickoff for the 14th Annual Parkdale Film + Video Showcase. The showcase is an annual summer celebration of the local artists and audiences in the Parkdale neighbourhood.

The showcase begins with a screening of short films and videos by Parkdale filmmakers, including Alex Pugsley's James O’Reilly in Parkdale, Lina Rodríguez' Einschnitte, Chris Kennedy's Phantoms, and Craig Orrett's Sayonara Sarnia.

Other highlights from the festival include the all-ages Screening Under the Stars and the inaugural program of youth projects Above the Line.

2012 MuchMusic Video Awards – winners

The 2012 MuchMusic Video Awards took place tonight in Toronto at a lively show hosted by the electropop duo LMFAO. They themselves went on to win International Video Of The Year – Group for their huge hit Sexy And I Know It.

Carly Rae Jepsen led the award winners with three prizes for her hit Call Me Maybe. She won the top prize Video of the Year as well as Most Online Streamed Video and UR Fave Video.

Stratford, Ontario heartthrob Justin Bieber picked up two wins. He won International Video Of The Year By A Canadian for Boyfriend as well as the fan-voted honour UR Fave Artist.

Vancouver punk rockers Marianas Trench led with seven nominations going into the night and came away with two awards. They won for Cinematography Of The Year for Fallout and Pop Video Of The Year for Haven’t Had Enough.

2012 MuchMusic Video Awards – nominations

Although music videos seem like a thing of the past and MuchMusic rarely shows them anymore, they still honour them with an awards show. They've announced the nominations for their 2012 MuchMusic Video Awards.

Vancouver punk rockers Marianas Trench led the pack with seven nominations including Video of the Year for Fallout. Fallout received four nods while Haven’t Had Enough picked up two. They also are nominated as a group for UR Fave Artist.

Drake and Hedley were next with five nominations. Carly Rae Jepsen and Down With Webster followed with four each. All four were nominated for Video of the Year, and all received nods for UR Fave Artist except Down With Webster, who missed out in favour of Justin Bieber.

Festival Temps d'images, April 19–27

The 7th edition of the Canadian edition of Festival Temps d'images begins tonight in Montreal.

Festival Temps d'images is an event featuring unexpected international bridges between performing and visual arts. It was begun a decade ago by ARTE and La Ferme du Buisson at the National Theatre in Marne-La-Vallee, Noisiel, France. It has since expanded to ten other countries – Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Turkey and Canada, its only North American edition.

Tonight, the festival offers up the installations Cargo, Tête à tête, Tableaux and Peptone. There are also two performances with Points, lignes avec haut-parleurs and Haptic / Holistic Strata.

The festival continues with projections of Quarantaine and The cost of living, and shows of Trieste, Soak, Kiss and Cry and White Box.

2012 XRCO Awards – winners

The X-Rated Critics Organization had to reschedule their 28th annual XRCO Awards originally scheduled for April 19, and held them last night instead. The show at The Highlands Nightclub was hosted by Dylan Ryder and Kayden Kross.

Elegant Angel's Portrait of a Call Girl picked up the prizes for Best Epic and earned director Graham Travis the trophy for Best Director – Features. Its star Jessie Andrew claimed the awards for Best Actress and New Starlet.

Asa Akira was herself a double winner for Female Performer of the Year and Superslut. The film Asa Akira Is Insatiable 2, also from Elegant Angel, was named Best Gonzo Movie.

Other winning titles included: Best Release Lost & Found, Best Parody (Comedy) Rocki Whore Picture Show, Best Parody (Drama) Taxi Driver, Best Parody – (Comic Book) Spiderman XXX and Best 3D Release This Ain’t Ghostbusters XXX.

2012 Edgy Women Festival, Mar 15–Apr 1

The 19th Annual Edgy Women Festival gets underway tonight. It begins with a free launch party starting at 8pm at the Royal Phoenix, 5788 St-Laurent. The evening will include the launch of a feminist zombie anthology, films, presentations and a dance party with DJ DYKE.

In addition to performances and shows, they will be hosting a conference at the Casa Del Popolo, workshops, an opportunity to meet the artists, and a late-night hockey game.

Edgy Women "explores the complexity of contemporary feminism, through fun, experimental, and community-building artistic events. Presented by Studio 303, Edgy Women has blossomed from a 4-day event into a full-blown international festival, featuring a plethora of neophyte and experienced artists in a diverse programme of cutting edge work which is both experimental AND entertaining. Through its performance series, artist talks, and professional workshops, Edgy Women creates a forum for cultural exchange through a thematic context, providing an excellent opportunity for audiences to experience content-driven artwork by women."