World War I epic romance 'Passchendaele' is the big winner at Canada's Genie Awards with six Genies, while 'The Necessities of Life', which dominated the awards' nominations, grabs only four nods.
- Apr 6, 2009
AceShowbiz - The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television had announced the winners of the 2009 Genie Awards on Saturday night, April 4, and "Passchendaele" came up victorious. On the awards ceremony held at Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa, the World War I drama was announced this year's Best Motion Picture in addition to receiving five other nods.
Being the one which collected the most prizes on the special night, this Paul Gross-directed war movie also won kudos for Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design, Achievement in Costume Design, Achievement in Overall Sound and Achievement in Sound Editing. It brought home the Golden Reel Award as well for being the biggest box office gross of the year.
"The Necessities of Life" was another big winner as the movie about an Inuit hunter stranded in a Quebec hospital grabbed four kudos at the awards. It collected Best Director title for Benoit Pilon and Best Leading Actor for Natar Ungalaaq. It also nabbed Best Original Screenplay for Bernard Emond and Best Editing for Richard Comeau.
In the meantime, Ellen Burstyn was hailed Best Leading Actress for her role in "The Stone Angel", Callum Keith Rennie was named Best Supporting Actor for "Normal" and Kristin Booth nailed Best Supporting Actress for "Young People Fucking". The Best Documentary went to Montreal helmer Yung Chang's "Up the Yangtze", while "Fugitive Pieces" was given the Best Cinematography award.
List of winners at the 29th Annual Genie Awards:
- Best Motion Picture: "Passchendaele"
- Achievement in Direction: Benoit Pilon for "The Necessities of Life"
- Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Natar Ungalaaq for "The Necessities of Life"
- Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Callum Keith Rennie for "Normal"
- Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Ellen Burstyn for "The Stone Angel"
- Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Kristin Booth for "Young People Fucking"
- Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design: Carol Spier and Janice Blackie-Goodine for "Passchendaele"
- Achievement in Costume Design: Wendy Partridge for "Passchendaele"
- Achievement in Cinematography: Gregory Middleton csc for "Fugitive Pieces"
- Achievement in Editing: Richard Comeau for "The Necessities of Life"
- Achievement in Music - Original Score: John McCarthy for "The Stone Angel"
- Achievement in Music - Original Song: Dr. Shiva for "Rahi Nagufta", "Amal"
- Achievement in Overall Sound: Lou Solakofski, Garrell Clark, Steve Foster and Don White for "Passchendaele"
- Achievement in Sound Editing: Jane Tattersall, Kevin Banks, Barry Gilmore, Andy Malcolm and Dave Rose for "Passchendaele"
- Original Screenplay: Bernard Emond for "The Necessities of Life"
- Adapted Screenplay: Marie-Sissi Labreche and Lyne Charlebois for "Borderline"
- Best Documentary: "Up the Yangtze"
- Best Live Action Short Drama: "Next Floor"
- Best Animated Short: "Sleeping Betty"
- Golden Reel Award: "Passchendaele"
- Claude Jutra Award: Yves-Christian Fournier for "Everything is Fine"
- Special Award for Outstanding Achievement in Make-Up Design: Adrien Morot, Bruno Gatien, Rejean Goderre, Marie-France Guy and Nathalie Trepanier for "Cruising Bar 2"
