Jamie M. Dagg wins Claude Jutra Award for Laos-set thriller River

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television will present Daggwith the first-featurehonour at the upcoming Canadian Screen Awards on March 13.

Originally fromTimmins, Ont., Daggpreviously directed music videos for bands such as Broken Social Scene and Bedouin Soundclash. He also directed the short films Waiting and Sunday.

River, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, stars Rossif Sutherland as a volunteer doctor in Laos who becomes a fugitive after he intervenes in a sexual assault.

Noted Vancouver actor Sutherland, a member of the Sutherland acting clan, is nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for his lead role in the drama.

"Jamie M. Dagg's command of the complex moral story and landscape in River surpasses what we normally see from debutant directors," academy chair Martin Katz said in a statement.

"He is well-deserving of the Claude Jutra Award."

Past JutraAward-winners have included Sarah Polley, Xavier Dolan, Zacharias Kunuk, Don McKellar, Louise Archambault, Philippe Falardeau, Robert Lepage and Anne mond.

River is slated for theatrical release on March 4.