Some of the most prestigious industry awards in the world are being handed out in New York City this week, and it’s already been an exceptionally strong performance for Canada.

While the Best of Show, Best of Discipline and Of the Year awards for the One Show will be announced tonight (Friday), all of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Pencil winners were announced on Thursday—and the big story was BBDO’s “Missing Matoaka,” which won nine Golds, two Silvers, and three Bronze.

Developed for Muskrat, an arts and culture magazine focused on Indigenous storytelling, “Missing Matoaka” is the true story of the young girl known as Pocahontas, which is very different and much darker than the story made famous by popular movies and help perpetuate sexist stereotypes of Indigenous women.

BBDO worked with TA2 to produce an audio track that synchs with the one of the most well known movies but tells the true story of Matoaka, who first met John Smith when she was 10 and was later kidnapped and sexually assaulted, dying at just 20 as she fled England.

The work won two Golds in Branded Entertainment and Experiential & Immersive, and one each in Cultural Driver, Interactive & Mobile Craft, Music & Sound Craft, Public Relations, and Radio & Audio.

Only FCB New York’s “McEnroe vs. McEnroe” for Michelob Ultra (see it at bottom) topped BBDO’s haul for “Missing Matoaka.”

Other Gold Pencil winners from Canada include:

• Performance Art won three Golds for “The Black Elevation Map” for Black & Abroad, one in Creative Use of Data, and two in Interactive.
• Angry Butterfly’s “Bill it to Bezos” for the Jane/Finch Community Centre, which won two Golds in Social Media.
• Broken Heart Love Affair’s “Immortal” for the Royal Ontario Museum in Branded Entertainment
• FCB Toronto for Canadian Down Syndrome Society’s “The Mindsets Paper” in Creative Effectiveness.
• Klick Health for “The Bridge” for PAWS NY in Moving Image Craft & Production. The Bridge also won three golds as a joint Canada/Brazil entry for the contributions of Lightfarm Studios in Rio de Janeiro
• Rethink won four Golds for “The Unburnable Book” for Penguin Random House, two in Design and two in Print & Promotional.
• Rethink also won Gold for “Draw Ketchup” for Kraft Heinz in Print & Promotional.

The One Show received 20,166 entries from 69 countries this year, with 210 Gold Pencils awarded, as well as 200 Silver and 238 Bronze.

Meanwhile, winners in the ADC Awards, which emphasize craft and design, were also announced Wednesday night. Canada tied with Germany as the second most awarded country overall (behind the U.S.) with three Canadian agencies enjoying particularly good nights.

Along with two Gold Cubes, Performance Art’s “Black Elevation Map” for Black & Abroad won the Members Choice Award (chosen by freelance members of both The One Club), and one of two ADC Fusion Cubes. Established two years ago, the Fusion Cube is for work that incorporates underrepresented groups in the content of the ad and the team behind it.

The Hive’s “Chatham Plays On” for OLG was named Best of Discipline in Gaming, after first winning a Gold and a Silver Cube.

Klick Health meanwhile won five Gold Cubes for “The Bridge” for PAWS NY.

Other Canadian work taking home Gold Cubes included:

• Rethink for Penguin Random House’s “The Unburnable Book”
• Paprika / Montreal for “There’s Light” for client Glenn Lutz
• Vancouver freelance director Amar Chebib also won a Gold Cube for Joe Buffalo.

The ADC Black Cube, for Best of Show, went to VMLY&R New York for “I Will Always Be Me” for Dell Technologies and Intel (below), and, based on total points earned across the show, MullenLowe US New York was named Agency of the Year.  The agency won two Best of Disciplines—Brand/Communication Design and Illustration—for “Something To Offend Everyone” for the Brooklyn Film Festival.