Genies mark 30 years with reunion
The "Canadian Oscars" - the Genie Awards - will be handed out Monday night in Toronto.
Because it is the 30th anniversary of the Genies, nominees past and present will be on hand at the Guvernment/Kool Haus entertainment complex.
None of the five most-nominated movies is widely known, but all were critically praised.
Polytechnique leads the way with 11 nominations. Director Denis Villeneuve wanted to share his dramatic statement about violence against women with all Canadians. So Polytechnique - which tells the story of the horrific mass killing of female Montreal university students in 1989 - was simultaneously shot in both French and English by the same actors. This makes it one of Canada’s few truly bilingual films, and it may be the odds-on favourite as best picture.
Charles Officer’s edgy urban drama NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY is the movie with the second most nominations, with 10. Next is the Inuit-Quebec drama Before Tomorrow, with nine, followed by Grande Ourse: La Cle des Possibles (The Master Key) with eight and Fifty Dead Men Walking with seven.
Among the 20 acting nominations, notable names include Clark Johnson as best actor for NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY, Joshua Jackson as best actor for One Week, Karine Vanasse as best actress for Polytechnique, Scott Speedman as best supporting actor for Adoration, Martha Burns as best supporting actress for Love & Savagery and Liane Balaban as best supporting actress for One Week.
Quebec wunderkind Xavier Dolan was already announced as the Claude Jutra Award winner, for J’ai Tue Ma Mere (I Killed My Mother), a brilliant first feature that he wrote, directed and starred in at age 19. It will be eligible for Genie noms next year.
Award presenters include Gordon Pinsent, Tatiana Maslany, Liane Balaban, Maury Chaykin, Martha Henry, Joshua Jackson and Scott Speedman.
While there will be no live telecast of the ceremony, it will be telecast Monday night on a tape-delayed basis on the IFC digital channel and webcast on CBC.ca, both starting at 9 p.m. EDT. The show will be rebroadcast on Sunday, May 9 on TMN’s MFEST and on Movie Central.
The Genies are run by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
KEY NOMINEES
BEST PICTURE
3 SAISONS
BEFORE TOMORROW
FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING
NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
POLYTECHNIQUE
BEST DIRECTOR
Marie-Helene Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu, BEFORE TOMORROW
Kari Skogland, FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING
Charles Officer, NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
Denis Villeneuve, POLYTECHNIQUE
Bruce McDonald, PONTYPOOL
BEST ACTOR
Jean-Carl Boucher, 1981
Paul Dylan Ivalu, BEFORE TOMORROW
Joshua Jackson, ONE WEEK
Clark Johnson, NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
Stephen McHattie, PONTYPOOL
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Patrick Drolet, FATHER AND GUNS
John Dunsworth, TRAILER PARK BOYS: COUNTDOWN TO LIQUOR DAY
Maxim Gaudette, POLYTECHNIQUE
Remy Girard, FATHER AND GUNS
Scott Speedman, ADORATION
BEST ACTRESS
Madeline Piujuq Ivalu, BEFORE TOMORROW
Karen Leblanc, NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
Carinne Leduc, 3 SAISONS
Gabrielle Rose, MOTHERS & DAUGHTERS
Karine Vanasse, POLYTECHNIQUE
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Liane Balaban, ONE WEEK
Marie Brassard, HEAT WAVE
Martha Burns, LOVE & SAVAGERY
Isabel Richer, BABINE
Sonia Vachon, 5150 ELM’S WAY