Once again, the Gala Québec Cinéma’s Prix IRIS (the “Quebec Oscars”) has released a muddled field of nominations, awkwardly grouping standout 2024 films with a fresh crop of 2025 premieres. Taking place on December 7th, we’ll certainly find a bunch of recycled speeches from these future winners. Unsurprisingly, in just about every possible category, it is Matthew Rankin‘s Universal Language (a Directors’ Fortnight selection in 2024) that leads the way with 17 nominations going up against Anne Émond‘s Peak Everything (a Directors’ Fortnight selection in 2025) and Chloé Robichaud‘s Deux femmes en or (a Sundance 2025 selection) with 15 nominations a piece. Philippe Lesage‘s masterwork Who by Fire (2024 Berlinale selection) received eight nods – with Balthazar Lab being snubbed in the Best Cinematography category. The full list of noms can be found on the official site.
Best Film
Amour Apocalypse / Metafilms – Sylvain Corbeil
Bergers / micro_scope – Luc Déry, Kim McCraw, Élaine Hébert | Avenue B Productions – Caroline Bonmarchand, Xenia Sulyma
Comme le feu / Productions l’unité centrale – Galilé Marion-Gauvin | Shellac – Thomas Ordonneau
Deux femmes en or / Amérique Film – Martin Paul-Hus, Catherine Léger
La Petite et le Vieux / Parallaxes – Sonia Despars, Marc Biron
Mlle Bottine / Attraction – Antonello Cozzolino, Brigitte Léveillé | Productions La Fête – Dominic James
Une langue universelle / Metafilms – Sylvain Corbeil
Best Director
Anne Émond / Amour apocalypse
Chloé Robichaud / Deux femmes en or
Matthew Rankin / Une langue universelle
Philippe Lesage / Comme le feu
Sophie Deraspe / Bergers
