R. Bruce Elder (The book of All the Dead, The Book of Praise) has been awarded one of the eight 2007 Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. These awards, funded and administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, recognize distinguished career achievement in the visual and media arts by Canadian artists. The jury "described him as 'highly innovative,' 'influential' and 'acutely intelligent,' noting the enormous span of his practice and the demanding nature of his films".