A Tribe Called Red, Grimes, Wintersleep videos make Prism Prize short list

Videos for ATribe Called Red, Grimes and Wintersleephave made the short list for thePrism Prize, an award which honours the most artistic Canadian music videos.

The top 10 wereannounced Tuesday morning, whittled down from thelong list of 20 nominees put outin February.

The winner gets $15,000 in cash andwill be announced at aceremony in Toronto on May 14.

The prize, first handed out in 2012, has previously gone to music videos from Arcade Fire andTimber Timbre.

Here's the full list, pickedby a jury of more than 120 peoplewho work infilm, music and media arts:

• AndyShauf,The Magician(directed byWinston Hacking).
• A Tribe Called Red featuring Black Bear,Stadium Pow Wow(directed byKevanFunk).
• Harrison featuringClairmontthe Second,It's Okay, I Promise(directed by ScottCudmore).
• BadBadNotGoodfeaturingKaytranada,Lavender(directed byFantaviousFritz).
• Grimes,Kill V. Maim(directed by ClaireBoucherand MacBoucher).
• July Talk,Picturing Love(directed byJaredRaab).
• Kaytranada,LiteSpots(directed byMartin C.Pariseau).
• PUP,Sleep in the Heat(directed by JeremySchaulin-Rioux).
• PUP,DVP(directed by JeremySchaulin-Rioux).
• Wintersleep,Amerika(directed by ScottCudmore).

Some of the nominated videos havegarnered a lot of pre-Prism Prizebuzz.PUP's Sleep in the Heat was noted for starring Stranger Things starFinn Wolfhard, while a Snoop Dogg remix of BadBadNotGood's nominated videoLavender recently caused all sorts of controversy for its mock shooting of Donald Trump.

Grimes' video may have the upper hand.Kill V. Maim was named video of the year at the Junos this past weekend. Kaytranada'sLiteSpots and a different A Tribe Called Red video(R.E.D.) had also been nominated in the same category.

'This is a legitimate form of cinema'

Toronto filmmaker Scott Cudmoredirected two videos in the top 10: Wintersleep'sAmerikaand Harrison'sIt's Okay, I Promise. Both acts gave him total freedom to make the video he wanted, Cudmore said, adding thatthe ideas and images came to him after listening to the songs.

"I really value what the Prism Prize is doing to bring attention to music videos and sort of raise people's awareness that this is a legitimate form of cinema," he told CBC News on Tuesday, post-announcement.

"In the sort of hierarchy of filmmaking that does exist, music videos are sort of at the bottom of that totem pole."

Another video he directed for Toronto punk band Dilly Dally had been longlisted but didn't make the final cut.

The Canadian music video-creator community is small, but "it is a community,"Cudmoresaid,bringing up fellow contender JeremySchaulin-Rioux, who directed the pair of PUP videos nominated.

According to Cudmore,they all talk and are inspired by each other's work.

"Nobody makes really a lot of money on them, so they are really passion projects."

In addition to the grand prize, three other awards will be presented at the ceremony in May: the audience award, the special achievement award andthe Lipsettaward for unique music video art.