TORONTO, CANADA – The 2020 Canadian Screen Awards were held online this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the film Antigone, based on the ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles, was awarded Best Picture on May 28, the CBC reported.

Quebec filmmaker Sophie Deraspe adapted Sophocles’ play and set it in present day Montreal, saying that she “was also inspired after reading an article about the killing of 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva in Montreal in 2008,” CBC reported.

The film was honored with four more awards, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Lead Actress for Nahéma Ricci, and Best Supporting Actress for Nour Belkhiria. Ricci “portrays a teenage girl whose family arrived in Montreal as refugees, after an incident involving her brothers inspires a viral social movement,” CBC reported, adding that “Ricci had no formal training in acting before being cast in Antigone, though was chosen as one of the Toronto International Film Festival 2019 ‘Rising Stars’ after the film's Canadian premier at the festival.”

Antigone “was also Canada's submission for the Oscars' Best International Feature,” CBC reported.