Quebec films lead Genie nominations

by Craig Takeuchi on February 10th, 2009 at 12:18 PM

As at the Canadian box office, Quebec films led list of the 29th annual Genie Award nominations.

The Quebec Inuit drama The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre) garnered the most nominations with eight, including achievement in direction (Benoit Pilon), best motion picture, best actor in a leading role (Natar Ungalaaq, who also won best actor in a Canadian film at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle awards), and best actress in a supporting role (Eveline Gélinas).

Everything is Fine (Tout est parfait) followed closely behind with seven nominations, including achievement in direction (Yves-Christian Fournier), best motion picture, best performance by an actor in a supporting role (Normand D'Amour), and best performance by an actress in a supporting role (Marianne Fortier).

Six nominations each went to Paul Gross' Canadian war epic Passchendaele, the India-set modern-day fable Amal, and the melancholic family drama Mommy is at the Hairdresser's (Maman est chez le coiffeur).

Guy Maddin's surreal, semi-autobiographical My Winnipeg will compete against Yung Chang's Up the Yangtze and Infiniment Québec in the documentary category.

Vancouver-based actor Callum Keith Rennie was nominated in the best performance by an actor in a supporting role category for his work in Carl Bessai's Victoria-shot drama Normal. The film also received nominations for achievement in direction (Bessai), best motion picture, and original screenplay (Travis McDonald).

Other B.C.–based nominees include Greg Middleton (Fugitive Pieces) for achievement in cinematography, and Janice Blackie-Goodine (Passchendaele), who shares a nomination for achivement in art direction/production design.

Among the international nominees are Susan Sarandon and Max von Sydow for Emotional Arithmetic (along with Christopher Plummer who lives in the U.S. but remains a Canadian citizen); Ellen Burstyn for The Stone Angel; Rosamund Pike for Fugitive Pieces; and Preity Zinta (Heaven on Earth).