The 2021 Allegra Audience Choice Awards have been announced, with an award given for Best Short Film, and a new award this year for Best Canadian Feature Film.

The award for Best Short Film has been given to Sheridan film student Chen Sing Yap for his COVID-themed film SHIFT, about a nurse who decides to live in her car to protect her family from the pandemic.

Chen Sing Yap grew up in Singapore, where he worked as an editor in lifestyle television for 4 years. He has since moved to Canada where he is studying for a film degree at Sheridan College.

The winner of the inaugural Best Canadian Feature Award is Warren Sulatycky for his heartwarming drama JASMINE ROAD, about a recently widowed rancher in his sixties who opens his home to a fractured Syrian refugee family.

Director and writer Warren Sulatycky and lead cast members Greg Ellwand (Mac), Aixa Kay (Layla), and Melody Mokhtari (Heba), were all on hand for a special livestreamed Q&A with festival director Jennifer Smith. Audience members were able to send in their questions in real time via the chat window.

On receiving the news of his film’s award, Sulatycky said, “On behalf of the cast and crew of Jasmine Road, we are thrilled to have the Milton Film Festival audience choose our film for the Allegra Audience Choice Award. We very much appreciate the support of a work that promotes compassion, acceptance, and love between all peoples.”

The Allegra Audience Choice Awards are generously sponsored by the Anders family of Allegra Marketing.Print.Mail and include a cash award. Audience members are able to rate the qualifying films from one to five stars on a ballot, and the winner is chosen by the highest average rating.