ABOUT

Photo by Kailee Mandel

NICOLE BAZUIN is a Toronto filmmaker and artist. Her first feature, the hybrid documentary Modern Whore, debuted at TIFF 2025. Modern Whore won Best Documentary at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2026, won the audience and jury awards for Best Documentary at CUFF Docs, and won Best Documentary at the Victoria Film Festival and the Silver Lake Film Festival. Nicole directed the short films Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie, which premiered at Sundance and was named to TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten list for 2023, Modern Whore, which premiered at SXSW, and the CBC Short Doc Last Night at the Strip Club. She co-created and directed the series This Art Works! for CBC Arts and Climate Talks With Kids for The Image Centre. Nicole co-created and photographed the book Modern Whore: A Memoir (Penguin Random House Canada) with writer Andrea Werhun. Exhibitions include: Art Gallery of Ontario, Luminato, and Nuit Blanche. Nicole was the 2025 recipient of the Documentary Organization of Canada’s DOC Vanguard Award as an emerging talent making a notable contribution to the documentary art form.

AWARDS INCLUDE:

  • Documentary Organization of Canada’s DOC Vanguard Award

  • Best Documentary - Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards (Modern Whore)

  • Audience Award for Best Documentary - CUFF Docs (Modern Whore)

  • Jury Award for Best Documentary - CUFF Docs (Modern Whore)

  • Best Documentary - Victoria Film Festival (Modern Whore)

  • Best Documentary - Silver Lake Film Festival (Modern Whore)

  • TIFF Canada’s Top Ten List for 2023 (Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie short)

  • Audience Award: Best Short Film - Chicago Critics Film Festival (Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie short)

  • Audience Award for Best Documentary - CUFF Docs (Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie short)

  • Jury Award for Best Documentary - CUFF Docs (Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie short)

  • Best Documentary - Sydney Underground Film Festival (Modern Whore short)

  • Best Documentary Short - El Paso Film Festival (Modern Whore short)

  • ArtReach Grant Recipient

  • Ashoka Photowings Insights Grant Recipient

  • Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

  • WIFT BravoFACT Pitch Competition Winner

  • Ouat! Media Distribution Award

  • HSBC Filmmaker's Award, the Universal Studios Scholarship