Vancouver Film Critics Circle nominees: Quebec's Incendies, The Social Network, True Grit

As in previous years, Quebec filmmaking continued to impress the Vancouver Film Critics Circle. Denis Villeneuve's Incendies, about Canadian twins who travel to the Middle East to unravel the secrets of their late mother's life, led the nominees announced today with five nominations for the VFCC awards.

The searing drama, based on a play by Wajdi Mouawad, is also Canada's official bid for the Oscars, and is set for release in Vancouver on January 21. It garnered nominations in the Canadian film categories for best actress (Lubna Azabal), best supporting actor (Maxim Gaudette), best supporting actress (Mélissa Désormeaux Poulin), and best director. The film will compete against Lixin Fan's documentary Last Train Home, about worker migrations in China, and Bruce McDonald's rock drama Trigger for best Canadian film.

Trigger, about two former bandmates who reunite, followed closely behind Incendies with four nominations, including best director and two best actress nominations (Molly Parker, Tracy Wright).

Barney's Version (which opens in Vancouver on January 14) received three nominations, including best actor (Paul Giamatti), best supporting actor (Dustin Hoffman), and best supporting actress (Minnie Driver), and Carl Bessai's ensemble comedy-drama Fathers&Sons was nominated in two categories: best supporting actor (Jay Brazeau) and best British Columbia film.

In the latter category, Fathers&Sons will compete against two documentaries about local heroes: Sturla Gunnarsson's Force of Nature: the David Suzuki Movie and Charles Officer's Mighty Jerome, about local track-and-field star Harry Jerome.

Meanwhile in international categories, both The Social Network and the Coen brothers' True Grit garnered four nominations. Both will compete against Black Swan for best film. The latter film and The Fighter followed with three nominations each.

This year's achievement award for contribution to the film industry in British Columbia will go to Chris Haddock, creator of the Vancouver-based CBC TV drama series Da Vinci's Inquest and the crime drama Intelligence.

The awards will be presented on January 10 at the Railway Club.

BEST FILM
The Social Network
True Grit
Black Swan

BEST ACTOR
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Melissa Leo, The Fighter

BEST DIRECTOR
David Fincher, The Social Network
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Inside Job
Waiting for "Superman"

BEST SCREENPLAY
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

BEST CANADIAN FILM
Incendies
Last Train Home
Trigger

BEST ACTOR IN A CANADIAN FILM
Paul Giamatti, Barney's Version
Paul J. Spence, Fubar II
Jay Baruchel, The Trotsky

BEST ACTRESS IN A CANADIAN FILM
Lubna Azabal, Incendies
Molly Parker, Trigger
Tracy Wright, Trigger

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A CANADIAN FILM
Jay Brazeau, Fathers & Sons
Maxim Gaudette, Incendies
Dustin Hoffman, Barney's Version

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A CANADIAN FILM
Delphine Chaneac, Splice
Minnie Driver, Barney's Version
Mélissa Désormeaux Poulin, Incendies

BEST DIRECTOR OF A CANADIAN FILM
Denis Cí´té, Curling
Bruce MacDonald, Trigger
Denis Villeneuve, Incendies

BEST BRITISH COLUMBIA FILM
Fathers & Sons
Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie
Mighty Jerome

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Carlos (France/Germany)
The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina/Spain)
Mother (Korea)
Un Prophí¨te / A Prophet (France/Italy)

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO THE FILM INDUSTRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
Chris Haddock