Genie award winners: Polytechnique wins nine, Joshua Jackson

Quebec proved the strength of its film industry once again as Polytechnique won nine of the eleven categories it was nominated in at the 30th annual Genie Awards held by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television in Toronto.

The stark, controversial film, about the 1989 massacre of 14 female engineering students at Ecole Polytechnique in Montréal, won in technical categories as well as best actress (Karine Vanasse), best director (Denis Villeneuve), best original screenplay (Jacques Davidts), and best supporting actor (Maxim Gaudette).

It also beat 3 Saisons, Before Tomorrow, Fifty Dead Men Walking, and Nurse.Fighter.Boy to scoop the best motion picture award.

Fifty Dead Men Walking managed to win two awards: best adapted screenplay (Kari Skogland) and best art direction and production design (Eve Stewart).

Western Canadian nominees were almost all shut out.

One exception was Vancouver's Joshua Jackson winning best actor for his performance as a teacher who discovers he has cancer in the Canadian road-trip movie One Week. Jackson beat Nurse.Fighter.Boy's Clark Johnson, Before Tomorrow's Paul Dylan Ivalu, Pontypool's Stephen McHattie, and 1981's Jean-Carl Boucher to win the award. 

The winner of the First Weekend Club's inaugural Audience Choice Award was RiP! A Remix Manifesto  (which was also nominated for best feature length documentary) by B.C.'s Brett Gaylor.

Presenters and guests included Adoration's Scott Speedman, Joshua Jackson (who mentioned the 14 gold medals Canada won at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics), Young People Fucking's Kristin Booth (last year's best supporting actress winner), Away From Her's Gordon Pinsent, Karen Leblanc, Adoration's Devon Bostick, and Before Tomorrow's Madeleine Ivalu.

The awards ceremony will be broadcast today at 6 p.m. PT on IFC and a CBC.ca Webcast and rebroadcast on May 9 at 9 p.m. PT on the Movie Channel.

Here is the list of winners.

BEST MOTION PICTURE / MEILLEUR FILM
POLYTECHNIQUE - Maxime Rémillard, Don Carmody

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN / MEILLEURE DIRECTION ARTISTIQUE
EVE STEWART - Fifty Dead Men Walking

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN / MEILLEURS COSTUMES
ATUAT AKITTIRQ - Before Tomorrow

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY / MEILLEURES IMAGES
PIERRE GILL - Polytechnique

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION / MEILLEURE Rí‰ALISATION
DENIS VILLENEUVE - Polytechnique

ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING / MEILLEUR MONTAGE
RICHARD COMEAU - Polytechnique

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP / MEILLEURS MAQUILLAGES
DJINA CARON, ANDRí‰ DUVAL - Grande ourse: La clé des possibles / The Master Key

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE / MEILLEURE MUSIQUE ORIGINALE
NORMAND CORBEIL - Grande ourse: La clé des possibles / The Master Key

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG / MEILLEURE CHANSON ORIGINALE
JOHN WELSMAN, CHERIE CAMP NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY - "Oh Love"

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE / INTERPRí‰TATION MASCULINE DANS UN PREMIER Rí”LE
JOSHUA JACKSON - One Week

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / INTERPRí‰TATION MASCULINE DANS UN Rí”LE DE SOUTIEN
MAXIM GAUDETTE - Polytechnique

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE / INTERPRí‰TATION Fí‰MININE DANS UN PREMIER Rí”LE
KARINE VANASSE Polytechnique

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / INTERPRí‰TATION Fí‰MININE DANS UN Rí”LE DE SOUTIEN
MARTHA BURNS - Love & Savagery

ACHIEVEMENT IN OVERALL SOUND / MEILLEUR SON D'ENSEMBLE STí‰PHANE BERGERON, PIERRE BLAIN, JO CARON, BENOIT LEDUC - Polytechnique

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING / MEILLEUR MONTAGE SONORE
CLAUDE BEAUGRAND, GUY FRANCOEUR, CAROLE GAGNON, CHRISTIAN RIVEST - Polytechnique

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY / MEILLEUR SCí‰NARIO
JACQUES DAVIDTS - Polytechnique

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY / MEILLEURE ADAPTATION
KARI SKOGLAND - Fifty Dead Men Walking

BEST FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY / MEILLEUR LONG Mí‰TRAGE DOCUMENTAIRE
A HARD NAME - Alan Zweig, Kristina McLaughlin, Michael McMahon

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY / MEILLEUR COURT Mí‰TRAGE DOCUMENTAIRE
"THE DELIAN MODE" - Kara Blake, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT DRAMA / MEILLEUR COURT Mí‰TRAGE DRAMATIQUE
"DANSE MACABRE" - Pedro Pires, Catherine Chagnon

BEST ANIMATED SHORT / MEILLEUR COURT Mí‰TRAGE D'ANIMATION "RUNAWAY / TRAIN EN FOLIE" - Cordell Barker, Derek Mazur, Michael Scott 

SPECIAL AWARDS / PRIX SPí‰CIAUX

ACADEMY SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD / GRAND PRIX DE L’ACADí‰MIE Mel Hoppenheim

CLAUDE JUTRA AWARD / PRIX CLAUDE-JUTRA
XAVIER DOLAN J’ai tué ma mí¨re / I Killed My Mother

GOLDEN REEL AWARD / LA BOBINE D'OR
De pí¨re en flic / Father and Guns – Denise Robert, Daniel Louis (Distributor: Alliance Vivafilm)