Genie Awards

William Marshall, co-founder of the Toronto Festival of Festivals and president of the Canadian Association of Motion Picture Producers, established a movement to create an academy-style Canadian film awards event. It attracted 100 founding members, all working professionals in the industry.

Dissatisfaction with the international jury system of the CANADIAN FILM AWARDS, and an expedient growth of the industry, led to the creation of the Academy of Canadian Cinema in 1979. The Etrog, the statuette that had been presented to winners since 1968, became known as the Genie, and the awards were thereafter branded the Genie Awards.

The first awards ceremony was held 20 March 1980 at the ROYAL ALEXANDRA THEATRE in Toronto. The Genie Awards became home to the GOLDEN REEL AWARD and the AIR CANADA AWARD (1980-94), which was given to individuals for their outstanding contribution to the business of filmmaking in Canada. In 1993 the Claude Jutra Award, for best director of a first feature film, was created.

Listed by the year the awards were presented, best picture Genie Award winners are followed by the name of the producer(s).

1980

The Changeling (Joel B. Michaels and Garth DRABINSKY)

1981

Les Bons Débarras (Claude Godbout and Marcia Couëlle)

1982

Ticket to Heaven (Vivienne Leebosh)

1983

The Grey Fox (Peter O'Brian)

1984

The Terry Fox Story (Robert Cooper)

1985

The Bay Boy (John Kemeny and Denis HÉROUX)

1986

My American Cousin (Peter O'Brian)

1987

Le Déclin de l'empire américain (René Malo and Roger FRAPPIER)

1988

Un Zoo la nuit (Roger Frappier and Pierre Gendron)

1989

Dead Ringers (David CRONENBERG and Marc Boyman)

1990

Jésus de Montréal (Roger Frappier and Pierre Gendron)

1991

Black Robe (Robert LANTOS, Stéphane Reichel, and Sue Milliken)

1992

Naked Lunch (Jeremy Thomas and Gabriella Martinelli)

1993

Thirty-Two Short Films about Glenn Gould (Niv Fichman)

1994

Exotica (Atom EGOYAN and Camelia Frieberg)

1995

Le Confessionnal (Denise Robert, David Puttman, Philippe Carcassonne, and Steve Norris)

1996

Lilies (Anna Stratton, Robin Cass, and Arnie Gelbart)

1997

The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan and Camelia Frieberg)

1998

no award presented

1999

The Red Violin (Niv Fichman)

2000

Sunshine (Robert Lantos and Andras Hamori)

2001

Maelström (Roger Frappier and Luc Vandal)

2002

Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) (Zacharias Kunuk, Norman Cohn, Paul Apak)

2003

Ararat (Robert Lantos and Atom Egoyan)

2004

Les Invasions barbares (Denise Robert and Daniel Louis)

2005

Les Triplettes de Belleville (Paul Cadieux)

2006

C.R.A.Z.Y. (Pierre Even and Jean-Marc Vallée)

2007

Bon Cop, Bad Cop (Kevin Tierney)

2008

Away From Her (Daniel Iron, Simone Urdl, Jennifer Weiss)

2009

Passchendaele (Niv Fichman, Francis Damberger, Paul Gross, Frank Siracusa)

2010

Polytechnique (Don Carmody, Maxime Rémillard)

2011

Monsieur Lazhar (Luc Déry, Kim McCraw)

Author PAUL TOWNEND

Links to Other Sites
Genie Awards
The website for Canada’s prestigious Genie Awards. From the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

Canadian Journal of Film Studies
See abstracts of current articles and a searchable archive consisting of every article and book review published in CJFS/RCEC since 1990. A fascinating treasure trove of stories and information about Canadian film and filmmakers.

Canadian Screen Awards to replace Genies
A CTV News story about the merging of Canada's Genie and Gemini Awards into the Canadian Screen Awards, a new prize meant to recognize the best in Canuck film, TV and digital work.