Movies Blackberry And Humanist vampire seeking consenting suicideby Quebec director Ariane Louis-Seize, lead the film nominations for the Canadian Screen Awards, with 17 and 12 mentions respectively.
The nominations for the awards were announced Wednesday morning ahead of the trophy presentations scheduled for the end of May. The galas will reward artisans in cinema, television and digital media.
The film Blackberry, by Toronto director Matt Johnson, is notably in the categories of best film and best direction. With its 17 mentions, it becomes the most nominated film in the history of the awards, which are 11 years old.
Set in Waterloo, Ontario in the 1990s, the film follows the dramatic rise and fall of the BlackBerry phone and its inventors. Actor Jay Baruchel is also in the running for the award for best performance in a leading role in a comedy.
The dramatic comedy by Ariane Louis-Seize Humanist vampire seeking consenting suicide also takes pride of place in the nominations, with a total of 12, including the categories of best film, best direction and best original screenplay.
Young actors Sara Montpetit and Félix-Antoine Bénard will compete for the prize for best performance in a leading role in a comedy.
The film inspired by the famous book by Kim Thuy, Rudirected by Charles-Olivier Michaud, is not to be outdone, with nine nominations, including the prizes for best photographic direction and best adaptation, signed by Jacques Davidts.
Following closely behind are the films Richelieu by Pier-Philippe Chevigny and The red rooms by Pascal Plante, with six and five nominations respectively.
The film by Monia Chokri, Simple like Sylvain, which recently won the César for best foreign film in France, only has to make do with four nominations and is also absent from the best film category. Lead actress Magalie Lépine-Blondeau could, however, win the award for best performance in a leading role for a comedy.
Other Quebec films have distinguished themselves, such as Soloby Sophie Dupuis and The time of a summerby Louise Archambault.
The “Little Bird” series in the lead
In terms of television awards, the Crave and APTN series Little Bird dominates with 19 nominations and it will compete in the category of best drama series against notably Plan Ba series of Quebec origin which was adapted by CBC.
Little Bird is also found in the categories of best leading role for a drama series, with its actresses Darla Contois and Ellyn Jade and best direction for a drama series with its directors Zoe Leigh Hopkins and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers.
Series Transplant, from CTV, which ends this season, also received several mentions. Quebec actress Laurence Leboeuf appears in the category of best leading role in a drama series.
For comedies, we note in particular the presence of Pillowtalkfrom Crave, adapted from the Quebec series Between two sheets. However, these are the CBC comedies Sort Of And Workin’ Momswho are in the lead with 18 and 12 nominations respectively.
French-speaking series are not present in the television categories of the Écrans awards, because the Gémeaux in Quebec are intended for this purpose.