D NY Quebec cinema dominates Candy nominations >» Gear up to celebrate Canadian film, TV, and more Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnist he Canadian Screen Awards or the Candys are the biggest celebration of Canadian film and TV. Canadian content is starting to be seen more by the rest of the world, with shows such as Anne With an E and Kim’s Convenience reaching wider audiences thanks to Netflix. You might find a show in the streaming service that will be your next favourite program and you may not even realize that it is Canadian. This year’s edition of the Canadian Screen Awards will be very interesting because the films and shows that are nominated this year show how Canadian content is doing today, and there were surprises in the TV categories. The hosts of the Nominee Announcement show this year were Kim’s Convenience star Andrew Phung and actor-comedian Aisha Alfa. Phung is a perfect fit to host it because of his improv skills. Alfa has been in a lot of shows including Degrassi: The Next Generation. We got to see more of these two when they announced the nominations on February 7. In film, the biggest surprise of the nominations this year is that all the films nominated for Best Film are from Québécois filmmakers, which shows that despite a few English-language Canadian films being released last year, not a lot of them stood out. The films in the running for Best Film this year are: Family First (Chien de garde), A Colony (Une colonie), The Great Darkened Days (La grande noirceur), Genesis (Genése), and Just a Breath Away (Dans la brume). The teams behind The Great Darkened Days and Just a Breath Away both received the most nominations with eight each. The Great Darkened Days is about a draft-dodging Québécois man exploring America, while Just a Breath Away is about a couple trying to find their daughter during a toxic fog in Paris. The only nominated film that I know, Genesis, is a nostalgic look of a group of secondary school students in 1990s Quebec. In TV, last year’s winner for Best Drama Anne With an E received 15 nominations, including Best Actress in a Have an idea for a story? M arts@theotherpress.ca Drama for Amybeth McNulty. Cardinal got the second- most nominations in this category at 14. Surprisingly, Frankie Drake Mysteries received five nominations, including Best Drama and Best Supporting Actress ina Drama for Sharron Matthews, who plays Flo. In comedy, last year’s big winner Kim’s Convenience is not nominated this year because this season of the show aired past the nomination deadline. However, the show may still receive some recognition this year because Phung is nominated for the Audience Choice Award, and by the time you read this story you may still be able to vote. Amanda Brugel, another actress who appears in Kim’s Convenience, is also nominated for Best Guest Star Actress in a Comedy for Workin’ Moms. Schitt’s Creek received the e¢ Albums to listen to during road trips e ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars’ season four finale review ¢ 'Roll for the Galaxy' board game review ..and more! Image of 'Anne with an E' via Netflix most nominations for any comedy with 14 nominations. Schitt’s Creek, Letterkenny, Workin’ Moms, and Mr. D, which ended this season, are in the running for Best Comedy. In news, the new version of The National earned the most nominations with 14, including Best Host of a Newscast for Rosemary Barton, lan Hanomansing, Adrienne Arsenault, and Andrew Chang, and Best Host of a News Program for Barton and Arsenault. The Canadian Screen Awards: Broadcast Gala airs March 31 at 8 pm on CBC. Tune in and Dropout: Finding humour and humility in the darkness of student debt » ‘Total Forgiveness’ TV show review Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager wwe KK Y The jokesters over at CollegeHumor launched their own comedy streaming platform Dropout TV. I'm here to tell you if their exclusive content is worth the subscription fee. s the reader of this student newspaper, what are the chances that you currently have—or will at some point in the future incur—student loans? The cost of post-secondary has been steadily on the rise, and the reality is that savings, scholarships, and part-time jobs are no longer enough to cover the costs of tuition, textbooks, et al . Yet from a young age, most of us are ingrained with the idea that we need education beyond high school. We need that degree, certificate, or other vague description of what legally amounts to a piece of paper to secure a decent-paying job. The premise behind Dropout’s latest offering is simple: Two friends give each other weekly challenges to beat, with an increasing amount of money on the line to pay towards their own student loan debts. If someone fails the challenge given to them, the money is forfeited to the other person, potentially doubling the money they earn in an episode. Total Forgiveness gets squirrely quick. The pilot episode follows Ally Beardsley and Grant O’Brien as they both conduct half-hour-long interviews, with their own twists; O’Brien interviews a student loans expert while covered in leeches, and Beardsley video chats with an ex while having to wolf down spicy takeout food. Both are wildly uncomfortable to watch, for obviously different reasons. Image via CollegeHumor Facebook page A few articles online have compared Total Forgiveness to stunt shows like Jackass or Fear Factor. However, the truer sister show would be Kenny vs. Spenny, the infamous comedy show where real- life friends Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice challenged each other to ridiculous feats, with the loser suffering a “humiliation” like being completely covered in cow manure. Total Forgiveness only debuted this month, so it’s yet to be seen if Dropout’s latest offering reaches the same absurd heights as Kenny vs. Spenny. Where Total Forgiveness manages to surpasses it, however, is the message behind the show. Both programs deal with friends competing, but Total Forgiveness highlights the increasingly important issue of student loans. According to the show’s closing credits, student loan debt in the United States is increasing by $3,000 every second, and Canada isn’t that much better. Statistics Canada reports that Canadian students collectively owe more than $28 billion. Generations are entering the workforce with a debt they'll be paying off for 10 to 15 year's, assuming they land jobs that pay enough. Relevancy aside, Total Forgiveness is also simply hilarious. Beardsley and O’Brien use their pre-existing friendship as a basis for ways to torture each other and it’s mighty enjoyable to watch. Other CollegeHumor cast members also make regular appearances, popping in and out to either help conjure up challenges or provide emotional support. It’s a cool sneak peek, seeing the CollegeHumor crew interacting with each other outside of scripted sketches, and it helps ground some of the absurdity of Total Forgiveness by reminding us that these are just two regular people, competing in weird stunts. The show’s structure also promises that things will only escalate from here. In the pilot episode, the show establishes that the prize money will increase each week, so the stakes are meant to adjust upwards accordingly. If they started out with such a banger for only $500 in the first episode, you can imagine what the finale holds for O’Brien and Beardsley. Total Forgiveness is funny, relevant, and a wonderful showcase for its two talented leads. If nothing else, the show can offer a momentary distraction from your own dogpile of student loans, or give you an insight into how far people are willing to go fora fresh start in life. Previews of Total Forgiveness can be found on YouTube, but full episodes are only offered through Dropout TV.