Four of the top five films that stand to win the best picture Genie Award this year are from first-time feature directors. Liste Noire is Jean-Marc Vallee’s first effort, Rude is Clement Virgo’s initial outing, Le Confessionnal marks Robert Lepage’s film debut and Magic in the Water is Rick Stevenson’s inaugural feature. None of these names, before the making of the films, was a known commodity to the Canadian public.

The fifth best picture nominee – Mort Ransen’s Margaret’s Museum – is primarily recognizable to the public for its British star, Helena Bonham Carter, although Ransen has been making films since 1961.

If only for reasons of relative obscurity, it could be argued these films are not an easy sell, although the aggressive releases in Quebec and ensuing boffo box office for both Liste Noire (close to the $1 million mark) and Le Confessionnal (projected to hit $450,000 by the end of the run) improves the chances of the Genies to successfully promote Canadian cinema to the Canadian public.

History tells us Quebec numbers do not help much outside Quebec. In English Canada, Rude (despite critical acclaim) and Magic in the Water have both fallen extremely short on box office expectations, while Margaret’s Museum has yet to be released.

It’s been an uphill battle to gain public recognition each year, and despite some valiant efforts on behalf of the televised show’s producer, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, the Genies reap criticism and keep producing disappointing numbers (last year, they drew 500,000 viewers).

This year, the acct decided it was time to go back to the drawing board and look at the lessons past experience has afforded.

Lesson number one: there are two completely distinct, linguistically divided markets in Canada. Lesson number two: Canadians in general don’t know, and don’t seem to care, about Canadian films, their makers, stars and their stories.

Thus, the new Genies show: a two-headed infotainment creature that bares little resemblance to the standard awards show format.

On Sunday night, Jan. 14, in a coveted primetime slot, there will be two shows Canadians can tune in to – one in French and one in English (and each produced specifically for its market). The 90-minute, largely pretaped programs will be devoted to profiling Genie-nominated talent and showing film clips. Part of the packages will be ceremony segments (yes, there will be one, also on Jan. 14) such as the announcements of the winners.

‘The reason why we’re changing the Genies is primarily to address what it is we should put on television to best serve the interests of the film and television industry in this country,’ says acct executive director Maria Topalovich. ‘Given the fact that the general public typically is not familiar with the films or the people, using a stereotypical format in our estimation is not the most effective way of doing that.’

It may present a bit of a challenge – laying out the show and leaving holes for last-minute additions from the ceremony – but Topalovich is confident it will all work out fine.

Plans are that she and producers David Kitching (for cbc) and Jocelyn Barnabe (for Radio-Canada) and Patrice Lachance, director of the acct’s Quebec division, will be in an edit suite near the action. With the help of technology, the new format means the ceremony can take place anywhere, says Topalovich, and this year it will be in Montreal instead of the traditional locale, Toronto.

In addition to simply aiming to engage a television audience, Topalovich hopes to gain viewers’ interest to the point where they feel they have a stake in who wins. ‘We are looking more aggressively at the fact that we’re producing a tv show,’ says Topalovich.

The idea for the new Genies came from the significant public interest in two promotional programs the acct produced with Kitching last year. The programs were intended to be bookends to the primary broadcast by profiling nominees and their films, but they attracted twice the number of viewers the televised ceremony did.

‘Having done a profile show in the past and looking at the statistics, we realized we have a wealth of articulate and interesting filmmakers and actors, among others, and the best way to promote who they are and why they were nominated is to introduce them,’ says Topalovich. ‘It really is a discovery show.’

The promotional shows of last year were individually targeted to French and English markets, something Topalovich says is key to the new Genies. Although each program will not be limited to profiling winners and nominees in its respective language, the emphasis will be on French-Canadian talent for Radio-Canada and English-Canadian names for cbc. ‘It’s a reality that we address with the Geminis and the Gemeaux,’ she says.

One limitation to the new approach is that many of the craft categories will not be profiled in the tv shows. Topalovich says the nominees from about eight categories – including best actor, actress, cinematographer, writer, director and best film – will make up the bulk of the show, but with the blessing of her membership on this move, she is not worried about leaving anyone out.

‘People have been so supportive about this new concept,’ she says, adding that the time factor is the main motive behind narrowing the number of nominees profiled, combined with the limited general interest in some of the craft categories.

Nonetheless, the ceremony will likely be a more intimate affair than in the past, with less pressure on the audience, and plans are to cut back production to a four-camera shoot from the traditional eight cameras.

The jury will be out until mid-January on Topalovich’s new approach, but one thing is certain: by taking the nominees of a few of the more publicly recognizable categories and building a show that offers an inside look at Canadian cinema, she is challenging the awful truth – Canadians show little interest in their own feature films – by putting on a show that she hopes ‘will help to rectify the situation.’