‘The Apprentice,’ ‘Canada’s Drag Race’ among big winners at Canadian Screen Awards

Daniel Bekerman, producer of "The Apprentice," winner of Best Motion Picture, poses for a photo at the Canadian Screen Awards, in Toronto, Sunday, June 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

A film chronicling the rise of Donald Trump won best motion picture at the Canadian Screen Awards on Sunday, where its Toronto-born producer used his acceptance speech to address the U.S. president’s threats to Canadian sovereignty.

Daniel Bekerman is the lead producer of “The Apprentice,” a Canada-Ireland-Denmark co-production that portrays how Trump got started in the real-estate industry and honed his persona under the mentorship of controversial fixer Roy Cohn.

“Our movie shows how the young Donald Trump amassed wealth and power by finding a dilapidated building and slapping his name on it,” said Bekerman on stage at the CBC headquarters in Toronto.

“As president, he’s doing the same thing with the economy -- we’ll see how that works out. But now he wants to slap his name on this country. This is a challenge, but it is a good challenge.”

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Bekerman went on to say he’s inspired by the rise of Indigenous and queer cinema in Canada, but that he wants the country’s independent film community to band together.

“When we’re faced with power structures that want to silence us, we can’t do it in isolation. It’s time to link arms, stand our ground and tell stories with enough honesty that we can build a country that has trust at its core. So in this complex and chaotic world, we can survive and thrive together.”

Sunday’s show had several calls to support homegrown content amid U.S-Canada tensions, capping off a multi-day celebration of Canadian film, television and digital storytelling.

Matthew Rankin’s absurdist dramedy “Universal Language” also had a strong showing, as the filmmaker took home the best director trophy. This brought the film’s Screen Awards tally to six after it dominated Saturday’s industry gala for cinematic arts, where it nabbed best original screenplay, casting and art direction.

On the red carpet before the show, Rankin reflected on the definition of Canadian content amid political tensions with the U.S. over tariffs and sovereignty.

“We’re in this political moment where we have to reckon with what Canada means, and ideally we should be thinking also about what it will mean as we go forward and what cinema can contribute to that,” the filmmaker said.

“I think of Canada as a space that should constantly be redefined. But usually, when I identify something as being Canadian, I think it feels like a President’s Choice Hollywood movie,” Rankin quipped.

On the TV side, Crave’s drag queen competition series “Canada’s Drag Race” won best reality program, bringing its Screen Awards total to eight -- the most overall. The series took home several trophies at an industry gala earlier in the weekend, including best host for Hytes, Brad Goreski and Traci Melchor.

“Canada’s Drag Race” judge Brooke Lynn Hytes thanked her fellow queens while accepting the award. “Thank you for coming on TV, sharing your stories, and letting it all hang out literally and figuratively,” she said.

“We’re all just so grateful to be here and get to celebrate queer people in queer spaces on national TV.”

Citytv’s “Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent,” which led all nominees with 20, won best drama series. It wound up pocketing three awards in total, including best writing in a drama series and best sound in fiction.

Comedian Lisa Gilroy opened the show with several self-deprecating jokes while also taking light jabs at celebrities and calling on Canadians to toast homegrown fare.

“We’re here to celebrate an industry that’s helped birth enormous global stars like Drake,” Gilroy said on stage at CBC headquarters in her opening monologue. “And commemorate stars we’ve lost in the past year, like Drake.”

In an opening skit, actor Will Sasso referred to Gilroy, who is from Edmonton and based in Los Angeles, as the “Canadian Nikki Glaser only less successful,” to which she retorted, “Exactly.”

Gilroy also joked that Australian actress Cate Blanchett was in the building -- before the camera panned to a mannequin donning a dress in the audience. Blanchett later won in absentia for best lead performance in a comedy for her role in Guy Maddin’s “Rumours.”

CTV’s “Children Ruin Everything” won best comedy, adding to its previous three wins, including best ensemble performance.

The sitcom is created by Ottawa’s Kurt Smeaton and stars Meaghan Rath and Aaron Abrams as a couple trying to carve out an identity beyond parenthood. It won four trophies overall.

Andrew Phung of CBC’s “Run the Burbs” won for best lead performer in a comedy series.

“The Apprentice” won five Screen Awards in total, including best performance in a lead role for Sebastian Stan’s turn as Trump, and best supporting actor for Jeremy Strong’s portrayal of Cohn. Trump’s team attempted to block the film’s theatrical release last fall, calling it “election interference by Hollywood elites” and threatening to file a lawsuit.

Last month, Bekerman told The Canadian Press that Trump’s threat to impose a 100 per cent tariff on foreign films, citing national security, felt like a veiled reference to “The Apprentice.” Bekerman denied that his film is a national security threat but said it might instead be “an ego security threat” for Trump.

“This is not some sort of political attack film,” Bekerman said.

“It’s actually not at all what it is. It is a humanistic story about choices people make in their lives and the consequences of those choices.”

By Alex Nino Gheciu

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2025.

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