29th Genie Winners (for films released in 2008)

Dave Foley hosted the 29th annual Genie Awards last night in Ottawa, and the show had several comedic moments, mostly revolving around the notion that "no one watches Canadian film". As someone who always looks on the bright side, it would have been nice to have a little balance on the celebration of the fantastic films that were nominated and took home awards. The big winner of the night was Passchendaele taking home 6 awards including Best Motion Picture and The Golden Reel Award (for biggest box office). Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life won 4 awards including lead actor (Natar Ungalaaq), Achievement in Direction and Original Screenplay (both to Benoit Pilon). I was thrilled to see that Up the Yangtze won for best documentary which was one tough category this year.

The 29th Genie Awards were be presented on Saturday April 4, 2009 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and the televised broadcast on Global and IFC shared 10 of the 22 awards on the program.

BEST MOTION PICTURE / MEILLEUR FILM
Passchendaele - Niv Fichman, Francis Damberger, Paul Gross, Frank Siracusa

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION / MEILLEURE RÉALISATION
Benoit Pilon - Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION MASCULINE DANS UN PREMIER RÔLE
Natar Ungalaaq - Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION MASCULINE DANS UN RÔLE DE SOUTIEN
Callum Keith Rennie - Normal

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE DANS UN PREMIER RÔLE
Ellen Burnstyn - The Stone Angel

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE DANS UN RÔLE DE SOUTIEN
Kristin Booth - Young People Fucking

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN / MEILLEURE DIRECTION ARTISTIQUE
Carol Spier, Janice Blackie-Goldine – Passchendaele

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY / MEILLEURES IMAGES
Gregory Middleton Csc - Fugitive Pieces

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN / MEILLEURS COSTUMES
Wendy Partridge – Passchendaele

ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING / MEILLEUR MONTAGE
Richard Comeau - Ce qu’il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE / MEILLEURE MUSIQUE ORIGINALE
John McCarthy - The Stone Angel

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG / MEILLEURE CHANSON ORIGINALE
Dr. Shiva - Amal - Rahi Nagufta

ACHIEVEMENT IN OVERALL SOUND / MEILLEUR SON D’ENSEMBLE
Lou Solakofski, Garrell Clark, Steve Foster – Passchendaele

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING MEILLEUR MONTAGE SONORE
Jane Tattersall, Kevin Banks, Barry Gilmore, Andy Malcolm, Dave Rose – Passchendaele

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY / MEILLEURE ADAPTATION
Marie-Sissi Labrèche, Lyne Charlebois - Borderline

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT DRAMA / MEILLEUR COURT MÉTRAGE DRAMATIQUE
Next Floor - Denis Villeneuve, Phoebe Greenberg

BEST ANIMATED SHORT / MEILLEUR COURT MÉTRAGE D'ANIMATION
Sleeping Betty - Claude Cloutier, Marcel Jean

BEST DOCUMENTARY / MEILLEUR DOCUMENTAIRE
Up the Yangtze - Yung Chang, Mila Aung-Thwin, John Christou, Germaine Ying-Gee Wong

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY / MEILLEUR SCÉNARIO
Bernard Émond - Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life

Special Award for Outstanding Achievement in Make-up
Cruising Bar 2 - Adrien Morot, Bruno Gatien, Réjean Goderre, Marie-France Guy, Nathalie Trépanier

Golden Reel Award
Passchendaele

Claude Jutra Award
Yves-Christian Fourneir - Tout est Parfait / Everything is Fine