His 1997 feature documentary, Drowning in Dreams, which tracks several men's obsession with a shipwreck lying at the bottom of Lake Superior, was screened at the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for a Genie Award.

In 1998 Southam directed the CBC/ SRC film L'histoire de l'oie, known in English as The Tale of Teeka, which was adapted by Michel Marc Bouchard from his celebrated play of the same name, winning among other awards several Prix Gémeaux and The Banff Rockie.

In 2005 his miniseries Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making, met with strong reviews, as did his documentary Danser Perreault, which won the 2005 Montréal International Festival of Films on Art award for Best Canadian Work along with a 2006 Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Performing Arts Program or Series.

[2] His 2006 film One Dead Indian was also a critical and ratings success and won a Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series.

[6] In 2021 Southam won the DGC Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Dramatic Series for his American Gods episode "The Rapture of Burning".