Montreal: Denis Villeneuve’s Maelstrom, a stylish and surreal story of a 25-year-old woman’s psychological descent following a deadly car accident, leads this year’s Prix Jutra competition with eight nominations, including best motion picture, best cinematography, best art direction and best sound.

The third edition of La Soiree des Jutra, the Quebec film awards, will be broadcast live on Reseau tva Sunday, Feb. 25

Maelstrom’s star, Marie-Josee Croze, is up for the best actress Jutra, while Villeneuve is nominated for best screenplay and direction. Maelstrom was produced by Roger Frappier and Luc Vandal of Max Films, and was recently rereleased in Montreal theatres by distrib Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm.

Also in the running for the best motion picture Jutra are: the biker drama Hochelaga (production house Baliverna Films, distributor Cinema Libre), producers Louise Sabourin and Michel Jette, ranked second with a total of seven nominations; Les Muses Orphelines, (Lyla Films/Film Tonic), producers Lyse Lafontaine and Pierre Latour, with six nominations; and the romance comedy La Vie apres l’amour (Max Films/aav), producers Frappier and Vandal, with five nominations.

Philippe Falardeau’s critically acclaimed mockumentary La Moitie gauche du frigo is arguably this year’s surprise omission in the best film category, although the film has four nominations, tied with Rodrigue Jean’s Acadian drama Full Blast, and Falardeau is nominated for both best direction and best screenplay.

The other nominees in the best director category are Michel Jette for Hochelaga and veteran director Robert Favreau for Les Muses. Gabriel Pelletier was not nominated for his directing efforts on La Vie apres l’amour, although the film is this year’s Bobine d’Or-Desjardins prize winner, with 2000 box-office receipts of $2.7 million.

Twenty-three Quebec feature films were eligible for this year’s Prix Jutra. Thirteen films received at least one nomination.

To qualify for a Jutra, a film had to be released for the first time in a Quebec theatre for a period of at least one week in calendar 2000. Three of five additional criteria must also be met, including one of the following two: it must be written or cowritten by a Quebecer or directed or co-directed by a Quebecer. The other criteria require that the film be produced or coproduced by a Quebec company, have a Quebec actor in at least one of the principal roles, and have a Quebecer in at least one key creative craft position, including director of photography, art director, picture editor and music composer.

The Jutra-Hommage career achievement award will be presented to Gilles Carle. The award includes $5,000 in cash from l’Association des Producteurs de Films et de Television du Quebec.

The 3rd edition of La Soiree des Jutra is a presentation of Mouvement Desjardins and Federation des Producteurs de Lait du Quebec. •