Greater Sudbury was well-represented at the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards Conference this past weekend, April 30 to May 2, with six of the 24 nominees coming from the city.

The six artists were nominated in 13 different categories, and took home five awards.

Faye Blais took home best vocal performance on a recording for her song, Canvas. This award was guaranteed to go to a Greater Sudbury artist, as Blais' competitors were Larry Barrio with his song Rocktown, and herself, having received a second nomination for her song Something's Changed.

Blais was also nominated for best album by a solo artist and best songwriter. Also nominated for best album was Sudbury performer Sarah Craig.

Sudbury group Shift was nominated for best album by a duo or group, but the award went to Suzana Da Camara.

Billy Bruhmuller beat out Chris Dorota and Rusty McCarthy to take the best engineer award.

The big star of the night was Ben Bruhmuller, who took home three awards: best film, best director, and best film editor, all for his film Vs.

The Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards conference was started in September 2003, and since then has received more than 900 submissions in 10 categories. Sixty-five awards have been won by music and film artists across northern Ontario, according to a press release.

Award winners and nominees

BEST ALBUM BY A DUO OR GROUP
Kalle Mattson – Whisper Bee
Shift – Shift
Suzana Da Camara – Proof Of Love

BEST SONGWRITER
Kalle Wainio – A to Z
Faye Blais – Something’s Changed
Mike Dell, Randall Savoy & Suzana Da Camara – Il n’y a qu’un homme

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE ON A RECORDING
Faye Blais – Canvas
Faye Blais – Something’s Changed
Larry Berrio – Rocktown

BEST ENGINEER
Billy Bruhmuller, Dave Jeffrey
Chris Dorota
Rusty McCarthy

BEST FILM
Ben Bruhmuller – Vs.
Heather K. Dahlstrom – Ten For Grandpa
Michelle Derosier – The Healing Lens

BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Bruhmuller – Vs.
J.P. Borchardt – Shell Shock
Michelle Derosier – The Healing Lens

BEST FILM EDITOR
Ben Bruhmuller – Vs.
Kevin Hoffman – The Lake
Dave Clement – The Healing Lens

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER
Dave Clement – The Healing Lens
Ed Regan & Patrick Gilbert – The Lake
Greg Tremblay – Doomzday Jezuz “Man Of The Cloth”

BEST SCREENWRITER
Eric Boissonneault – Sophie & Sara
Lee Chambers & Kris Ketonen – The Sum Of Random Chance
Ryan La Via – Psyche

TRAILBLAZER AWARD
Shirley Cheechoo