Prism Prize Unveils 2016's Top 20 Finalists, Including Drake, Alessia Cara, Grimes, and More

UPDATE (3/22/2016): The top 10 finalists have been announced:

A Tribe Called Red feat. Northern Voice, “Suplex” (Dir. Jon Riera)

Braids, “Miniskirt” (Dir. Kevan Funk)

Death From Above 1979, “Virgins” (Dir. Eva Michon)

Drake, “Hotline Bling” (Dir. X)

The Elwins, “So Down Low” (Dir. Alan Poon)

Fast Romantics, “Julia” (Dir. Matthew Angus)

Harrison feat. Maddee, “How Can It Be” (Dir. Maxime Lamontagne)

Grimes, “Flesh Without Blood” (Dir. Grimes)

Kalle Mattson, “Avalanche” (Dir. Philip Sportel)

Monogrenade, “Le Fantôme” (Dir. Kristof Brandl)

The $10,000 grand prize winner will be announced on May 15th, 2016. Watch all the nominated videos below.

Since 2013, the Prism Prize has recognized the best Canadian music videos of the year, awarding one winning director artistic bragging rights, a cool looking trophy, and a hefty cash prize. Today, we’ve learned which videos will be in contention for 2016’s $10,000 bounty.

"This was the best year for Canadian music videos ever, and a Top Ten list just couldn't capture all the talent," notes Prism Prize director and founder Louis Calabro. "With the Prism Prize Top 20, we are proud to present a diverse group of incredible artists and their remarkable work."

Excellent visuals by Grimes, Spek Won, A Tribe Called Red, SonReal, Alessia Cara, Braids, Drake, and Harrison, and a dozen other acts are all up for this year’s Prism Prize. These finalists will be narrowed down to a short list of 10 on March 22nd, 2016. The winner of the $10,000 Grand Prize will be announced May 15th at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, along with the Audience Award, the Special Achievement Award, and the Arthur Lipsett Award for innovative and unique approaches to music video art. 

Previous recipients of the award include Noah Pink for Rich Aucoin’s "Brian Wilson is A.L.i.V.E" (2013), Emily Kai Bock for Arcade Fire's "Afterlife" (2014), and Chad VanGaalen for Timber Timbre's "Beat The Drum Slowly" (2015).

You can learn more about the Prism Prize here. Check out the top 20 Prism Prize Finalists for 2016 below. Good luck to all the finalists.​