The Winnipeg Film Group is pleased to announce that Ian Bawa is the recipient of the 2024 MFM Manitoba Film Hothouse Award for Creative Development.
Ian Bawa is a South Asian filmmaker from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He’s best known for his films Offline, The Champ, Missing Toes, Imitations, and Tapeworm. His short ‘Strong Son’ premiered at 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. His last film, ‘My Son Went Quiet,’ premiered at the 2024 Slamdance Film Festival and 2024 Fantasia Film Festival. Ian is the director and host of SuperChannel’s feature documentary, ‘Seeking Fire’, and the CBC Gem documentary series ‘Finding Diamond’, which also stars and is co-hosted by Ian’s dog, Diamond. In 2024, Ian won the Hot Docs/Doc Institute Breakthrough pitch contest for his feature documentary, Brown Envelope, which also awarded him a development deal with CBC for the film.
Ian is an alumni of the 2021 TIFF Filmmakers Lab, 2021 ReelWorld E20 Lab, 2021 Netflix’s Diversity of Voices Initiative, and in 2023 completed his residency at the Norman Jewison Canadian Film Center – Director’s Lab. Ian’s latest short film, ‘The Best,’ had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. He is the recent recipient of Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program, supported and partnered with Winnipeg Film Group, OnScreen Manitoba, and the Toronto International Film Festival. The Talent to Watch program awarded Ian funding for his first feature film, ‘Strong Son,’ set to shoot in the winter of 2025.
The MFM 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 to support ongoing research and development work leading towards the production of one or several film productions or projects.
Ian Bawa was selected for the award by a peer assessment selection committee comprised of: Filmmakers Adam Brooks and Charlene Moore.
The Winnipeg Film Group acknowledges the Manitoba Arts Council and Manitoba Film and Sound in their support of the MFM Manitoba Film Hothouse Award.
