Awards News: 30th Annual Genie Awards for Canadian film

Denis Villeneuve's Polytechnique was the big winner on Monday night at the 30th Annual Genie Awards ceremony, which took place this year in Toronto. It won a total of nine of its eleven nominations, including Best Motion Picture, Achievement in Direction (Denis Villeneuve), Original Screenplay (Jacques Davidts), and Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Karine Vanasse). The film is a moving and powerful testament to the victims and survivors of the tragic Montreal Massacre of 1989, and managed the seemingly impossible feat of creating a beautiful work of art based on such a horrific event. I chose it as one of my top 10 films of 2009 and am in complete agreement with its many awards.

There had been some controversy leading up to the night since some felt that the festival darling J’ai tué ma mere (I Killed My Mother) was snubbed when it received no nominations. The only award it received was the previously announced non-competitive Claude Jutra Award for first-time filmmaker. I think the Academy got it right as the film is excellent for a first feature, but flawed in many respects. The accusation of anti-Quebec sentiment is proven to be utterly ridiculous with the sweep by the superior film Polytechnique.

The Best Actor Award went to Joshua Jackson for his fine work in the excellent road movie One Week. He attended the ceremony with his girlfriend Diane Kruger from Inglourious Basterds. Two Irish co-productions came away with wins. Love & Savagery's Martha Burns took Best Supporting Actress while Fifty Dead Men Walking won for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Art Direction.

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Complete list of 2010 Genie Award winners
Best film
Polytechnique

Best direction
Denis Villeneuve, Polytechnique

Best actor
Joshua Jackson, One Week

Best actress
Karine Vanasse, Polytechnique

Best supporting actor
Maxim Gaudette, Polytechnique

Best supporting actress
Martha Burns, Love & Savagery

Best original screenplay
Jacques Davidts, Polytechnique

Best adapted screenplay
Kari Skogland, Fifty Dead Men Walking

Best art direction
Eve Stewart, Fifty Dead Men Walking

Best costume design
Atuat Akittirq, Before Tomorrow

Best editing
Richard Comeau, Polytechnique

Best sound
Stephane Bergeron, Pierre Blain, Jo Caron, Benoit Leduc, Polytechnique

Best cinematography
Pierre Gill, Polytechnique

Best sound editing
Claude Beaugrand, Guy Francoeur, Carole Gagnon, Christian Rivest, Polytechnique

Best original score
Normand Corbeil, Grande ourse: La clé des possibles (The Master Key!)

Best makeup
Djina Caron, André Duval, Grande ourse: La clé des possibles (The Master Key!)

Best song
"Oh Love" from Nurse.Fighter.Boy, John Welsman, Cherie Camp

Best animated short
Cordell Barker, Runaway

Best short documentary
The Delian Mode, Kara Blake, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre

Best live action short drama
Danse Macabre, Pedro Pires, Catherine Chagnon

Best feature documentary
A Hard Name, Alan Zweig, Kristina McLaughlin, Michael McMahon

Special Awards

Academy Special Achievement Award
Mel Hoppenheim

Claude Jutra Award
Xavier Dolan,  J’ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother)

Golden Reel Award
De père en flic (Father and Guns), Denise Robert, Daniel Louis