The Winnipeg Film Group is pleased to announce that Adam Brooks is the recipient of the 2022 Manitoba Film Hothouse Award for Creative Development.
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Adam Brooks dreamed of drawing comic books for a living before he set his sights on the world of fine arts. His oil paintings were exhibited at The <SITE> Gallery and the Winnipeg Art Gallery among others before he ever stepped foot on a film set. In 2006 he formed the filmmaking collective ASTRON-6 with four of his closest friends. Their numerous shorts and features have been exhibited all over the world, most notably at The Toronto International Film Festival (2014) and The Sundance Film Festival (2019.)
In 2016 CBC named him one of Manitoba’s Future 40 Under 40. That same year his neo-giallo film ‘The Editor’ swept The Windy Awards, winning him Best Director, Writer, Editor and The William F White Award for Cinematography. Not one to remain behind the camera, Adam has appeared in multiple films as an actor including ‘Stump The Guesser’ by Guy Maddin and the Johnson bros, and ‘Psycho Goreman’ by Astron-6 Alum Steven Kostanski. In 2019 Adam was awarded Best Actor award at The Gimli Film Festival for his performance in the Astron-6 picture ‘Chowboys’ and in 2022 he won Best Manitoba Director for his documentary ‘Cliff: a Portrait of an Artist.’ When he’s not working he still finds time to draw and paint. One of his illustrations was recently featured in an episode of Amazon’s ‘The Boys’ (s03e02) while another was selected by Breaking Bad series creator Vince Gilligan to appear in the ‘99.1% Pure’ art book from Simon & Schuster. He still dreams of drawing comic books (or making movies) for a living and continues to make films and animations with his two sons in Winnipeg (see – ‘Pandemic Bear’ on Youtube).
The Manitoba Film Hothouse Award for Creative Development recognizes the career of an established mid-career Manitoba filmmaker. It comes in the form of $10,000 in cash and $5,000 in WFG services and $2,500 in William F. White services to support ongoing research and development work leading towards the production of one or several film productions or projects. In conjunction with his Hothouse Award that will support Adam’s self-development project – an animated short documentary about Maurice and Jeanette Dzama, the Winnipeg Cinematheque will feature a retrospective screening of Adam Brooks’ work in 2023.
Adam Brooks was selected for the award by a peer assessment selection committee comprised of: Luther Konadu – artist and Assistant Curator at Plug In ICA, Heidi Phillips – WNDX Co-Director, filmmaker and previous Hothouse winner and Diana Thorneycroft – artist, animator and educator.
The Winnipeg Film Group acknowledges the Manitoba Arts Council and William F. White in their support of the Manitoba Film Hothouse Award.