Canadian Screen Awards 2016: CBC wins in 15 categories

CBC News hosts Rosemary Barton, Ian Hanomansing and Andrew Chang, The Amazing Race Canada and coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup are among the early winners of this year's Canadian Screen Awards.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television unveiled winners in 50 CSA categories on Tuesday night in Toronto, at a non-televised gala hosted by comedian Sean Cullen.

The evening celebrationhonoured the first of several contenders in the categories of documentary, lifestyle, reality, news and sports, and digital media categories.

• Interactive: Missing & Murdered

The CBC interactive database Missing & Murdered was honoured for telling the stories of more than 250 indigenous women, whose unsolved cases go back more than 60 years. After the project was launched, new evidence was uncovered and the RCMP reopened at least two cold cases.

CBC earned awards in 15 categories, including:

• Best cross-platform project - non-fiction: CBC News and CBC Aboriginal: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
• National news anchor: Ian Hanomansing,CBC News Network with Ian Hanomansing.
• Host/interviewer in a news or information program or series: Rosemary Barton,CBC News: Power & Politics.
• Local news anchor: Andrew Chang, CBC News: Vancouver at 6.
• News or information program: CBC NewsMarketplace- Licence to Deceive.
• National reportage: Adrienne Arsenault, CBC News:The National- Ebola.
• Sports host in a sports program or series: Andi Petrillo, CBC Sports - 2015 Pan Am Games, Pan Am Afternoon.
• Barbara Sears Award for Best Editorial Research: the fifth estate The Mob and Michael Degroote / Nicole Reinert, Alexandra Byers, Greg McArthur, Zach Dubinsky, Chelsea Gomez, Joseph Loiero.
• Barbara Sears Award for Best Visual Research: Gina Cali, The Nature of Things: Jellyfish Rule!
• Best Original Music for a Non-Fiction Program or Series: Darren Fung, The Nature of Things: The Great Human Odyssey Rise of a Species.
• Best Photography in a News or Information Program, Series or Segment: Jean-Francois Bisson, CBC News: The National Losing Liberia.
• Best Science or Nature Documentary Program or Series: The Nature of Things: The Great Human Odyssey (Clearwater Documentary) / Niobe Thompson.

• Best Biography or Arts Documentary Program or Series: Balletlujah (Corkscrew Media) / Scott Henuset, Heather Edwards, Brent Kawchuk.

• Best Factual Program or Series: Still Standing (Frantic Films) / Jamie Brown, Catherine Legge, Jeff Peeler.

• Best History Documentary Program or Series: Vietnam: Canada's Shadow War (Merit Motion Pictures) / Merit Jensen Carr, Andy Blicq.

Other winners included:

• Documentary program: SOL.
• Lifestyle program or series: Income Property.
• Live sporting event: TSN coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.
• Local newscast: CTV News Vancouver at 6.
• National newscast: CTV National News with Lisa Laflamme.
• News or information series: 16x9.
• Original program or series: VICE Canada Reports.
• Reality/competition program or series: The Amazing Race Canada.
• Talk program or series: The Marilyn Denis Show

The midweek ceremony also included the presentation of three special awards:

• The Diversity Award: Canada in Perspective.
• Gordon Sinclair Award for broadcast journalism: Mark Starowicz.
• Outstanding Technical Achievement Award: Much Music Video Awards.

Adrienne Arsenault was part of the CBC team that went to Liberia in the fall of 2014 to report on the Ebola crisis from one of the worst-hit African countries. After winning the CAS award, she said she and her colleagues wish they had the chance to return to Liberia.

"It was important for us to go and we were glad to go. It was very hard to leave it. It's always very hard to leave the people behind when you do these stories," she said.

The Canadian Screen Awards continue Wednesday evening with a second non-televised gala, hosted by comedian Steve Patterson, honouring drama, children's and youth, comedy and variety categories.

• This year's Canadian Screen Award nominees are screening for free across the country

The televised awards show, hosted by Norm Macdonald, will be broadcast on CBC Television on Sunday night, starting at 8 p.m. ET, when prizes in the acting categories, and for best movie and TV shows, will be handed out.