30th Genie Awards: Denis Villeneuve’s Polytechnique Leads Canada’s Oscars Noms

It’s one of those years where the great Atom Egoyan’s contribution to cinema is totally insignificant (Adoration received 2 noms) and where Denis Villeneuve’s Polytechnique, in my books the best Canadian film of the year, grabbed the high count total of eleven nominations for the 30th Genie Awards. What is somewhat odd is how Canada’s most internationally celebrated film in I Killed My Mother (J’ai tue ma mere) from Xavier Dolan receive not one single vote, a crime when you consider the textured writing, fluid cinematography and the brilliant performance from Anne Dorval – who plays the neurotic mother who doesn’t get her teenage son.

The TIFF preemed Charles Officer’s Nurse.Fighter.Boy received one nom short of tying Villeneuve’s film in the number of noms, and the Inuit-language drama Before Tomorrow, which had a two week stint at the Film Forum for two weeks in December, placed third with nine nominations. The winners are announced on April 12th, when all of these films are collecting dust on videostore shelves. Here are the complete list of categories and noms below. 

BEST MOTION PICTURE
3 SAISONS – Maude Bouchard, Jim Donovan, Sandy Martinez, Bruno Rosato
BEFORE TOMORROW – Stéphane Rituit
FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING – Shawn Williamson, Stephen Hegyes, Peter La Terriere, Kari Skogland
NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY – Ingrid Veninger
POLYTECHNIQUE – Maxime Rémillard, Don Carmody

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION
MARIE-HÉLÈNE COUSINEAU, MADELINE PIUJUQ IVALU – Before Tomorrow
KARI SKOGLAND – Fifty Dead Men Walking
CHARLES OFFICER – NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
DENIS VILLENEUVE – Polytechnique
BRUCE MCDONALD – Pontypool

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ATOM EGOYAN – Adoration
ÉMILE GAUDREAULT, IAN LAUZON – De père en flic / Father and Guns
CHARLES OFFICER, INGRID VENINGER – NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
JACQUES DAVIDTS – Polytechnique
DAVID BEZMOZGIS – Victoria Day

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
MARIE-HÉLÈNE COUSINEAU, SUSAN AVINGAQ, MADELINE PIUJUQ IVALU – Before Tomorrow
KARI SKOGLAND – Fifty Dead Men Walking
TONY BURGESS – Pontypool

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
JEAN-CARL BOUCHER – 1981
PAUL DYLAN IVALU – Before Tomorrow
JOSHUA JACKSON – One Week
CLARK JOHNSON – NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
STEPHEN MCHATTIE – Pontypool

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
MADELINE PIUJUQ IVALU – Before Tomorrow
KAREN LEBLANC – NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
CARINNE LEDUC – 3 Saisons
GABRIELLE ROSE – Mothers & Daughters
KARINE VANASSE – Polytechnique

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
PATRICK DROLET – De père en flic / Father and Guns
JOHN DUNSWORTH – Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day
MAXIM GAUDETTE – Polytechnique
RÉMY GIRARD – De père en flic / Father and Guns
SCOTT SPEEDMAN – Adoration

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
LIANE BALABAN – One Week
MARIE BRASSARD – Les grandes chaleurs / Heat Wave
MARTHA BURNS – Love & Savagery
ISABEL RICHER – Babine
SONIA VACHON – 5150, rue des Ormes / 5150 Elm’s Way

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
DIANA ABBATANGELO – NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
SUSAN AVINGAQ – Before Tomorrow
JEAN BABIN – Grande ourse: La clé des possibles / The Master Key
EVE STEWART – Fifty Dead Men Walking
PATRICE VERMETTE – 1981

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
STEVE COSENS – NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
JONATHAN FREEMAN – Fifty Dead Men Walking
PIERRE GILL – Polytechnique
RONALD PLANTE – Grande ourse: La clé des possibles / The Master Key
ALLEN SMITH – Les doigts croches / Sticky Fingers

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
ATUAT AKITTIRQ – Before Tomorrow
CARMEN ALIE – Grande ourse: La clé des possibles / The Master Key
SARAH ARMSTRONG – NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
BRENDA BROER – Cairo Time
ANNE-KARINE GAUTHIER – 1981

ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING
ALAIN BARIL – 5150, rue des Ormes / 5150 Elm’s Way
RICHARD COMEAU – Polytechnique
FRANÇOIS NORMANDIN, JIM DONOVAN – 3 Saisons
MICHEL GROU – Grande ourse: La clé des possibles / The Master Key
JIM MUNRO – Fifty Dead Men Walking

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP
DJINA CARON, MARTIN RIVEST – Polytechnique
DJINA CARON – Grande ourse: La clé des possibles / The Master Key
DIANE SIMARD, RÉJEAN GODERRE – Love & Savagery
MICHELINE TRÉPANIER, LINDA GORDON – 1981
ROBBI O’QUINN, LEANNE MORRISON-FREED – You Might As Well Live

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC – ORIGINAL SCORE
BENOÎT CHAREST – Polytechnique
BERTRAND CHÉNIER – Love & Savagery
CHRISTIAN CLERMONT – 5150, rue des Ormes / 5150 Elm’s Way
NORMAND CORBEIL – Grande ourse: La clé des possibles / The Master Key
BEN MINK – Fifty Dead Men Walking

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC – ORIGINAL SONG
SUSAN AVINGAQ – Before Tomorrow – “Pamani”
JOHN WELSMAN, CHERIE CAMP – NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY – “Oh Love”
SARI DAJANI, IOHANN MARTIN, RUDY TOUSSAINT, JOHN VON AICHLINGER – Les grandes chaleurs
/ Heat Wave – “Bon Swa”

ACHIEVEMENT IN OVERALL SOUND
MARIO AUCLAIR, DANIEL BISSON, LUC BOUDRIAS, JEAN-CHARLES DESJARDINS – Grande ourse:
La clé des possibles / The Master Key
STÉPHANE BERGERON, PIERRE BLAIN, JO CARON, BENOÎT LEDUC – Polytechnique
CLAUDE HAZANAVICIUS, DANIEL BISSON, JEAN-CHARLES DESJARDINS,
BERNARD GARIÉPY STROBL – Love & Savagery
RICHARD LAVOIE, ARNAUD DERIMAY, JEAN-CHARLES DESJARDINS,
BERNARD GARIÉPY STROBL – Before Tomorrow
SIMON GOULET, BERNARD GARIÉPY STROBL – 5150, rue des Ormes / 5150 Elm’s Way

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
PIERRE-JULES AUDET, MICHELLE CLOUTIER, JACQUES PLANTE, JEAN-FRANÇOIS SAUVÉ –
Grande ourse: La clé des possibles / The Master Key
MATHIEU BEAUDIN, JACQUES PLANTE – 5150, rue des Ormes / 5150 Elm’s Way
CLAUDE BEAUGRAND, GUY FRANCOEUR, CAROLE GAGNON, CHRISTIAN RIVEST – Polytechnique
GARRETT KERR, FRED BRENNAN, PAUL GERMANN, STEVE HAMMOND, MISHANN LAU –
NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY
OLIVIER CALVERT, NATALIE FLEURANT, FRANCINE POIRIER, LISE WEDLOCK – Babine

BEST FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY
A HARD NAME – Kristina McLaughlin, Michael McMahon, Alan Zweig
LES DAMES EN BLEU / LADIES IN BLUE – Claude Demers
INSIDE HANA’S SUITCASE – Larry Weinstein, Rudolf Biermann, Jessica Daniel
PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI – Patricia Aquino, Paul Saltzman
RIP: A REMIX MANIFESTO – Mila Aung-Thwin, Kat Baulu, Brett Gaylor, Germaine Ying Gee Wong

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
THE DELIAN MODE – Kara Blake, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre
PASSAGES – Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre
PETROPOLIS: AERIAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE ALBERTA TAR SANDS – Peter Mettler,
Sandy Hunter, Laura Severinac

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT DRAMA
DANSE MACABRE – Pedro Pires, Catherine Chagnon
GILLES – Constant Mentzas
PRINCESS MARGARET BLVD. – Dan Montgomery, Kazik Radwanski
TERRE DES HOMMES / LAND OF MEN – Ky Nam Le Duc
LA VIE COMMENCE / LIFE BEGINS – Élaine Hébert, Émile Proulx-Cloutier

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
RUNAWAY / TRAIN EN FOLIE – Derek Mazur, Cordell Barker, Michael Scott
THE SPINE / L’ÉCHINE – Steven Hoban, Chris Landreth, Marcy Page
VIVE LA ROSE – Michael Fukushima, Bruce Alcock, Annette Clarke, Tina Ouellette