It should not come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention that the Icon Productions/Alliance Atlantis Communications coproduction of Atom Egoyan’s Felicia’s Journey has been nominated for 10 Genies, including best motion picture. The follow-up to Egoyan’s acclaimed The Sweet Hereafter has been equally regarded by critics and audiences alike

Produced by Icon’s Bruce Davey and former Alliance Communications chief Robert Lantos (now head of Toronto’s Serendipity Point Films), the film is the story of Felicia (played by Genie nominee Elaine Cassidy), a pregnant Irish teenager who travels to England in search of her lover. On the way she meets a caterer (played by Bob Hoskins, also nominated) who, among other quirks and closet skeletons, has a fixation on his deceased mother. It is based on (or rather faithfully adapted from) the 1994 Whitbread Award-winning book by Irish author William Trevor.

Davey had promised Trevor that the film version of Felicia’s Journey would remain very close to the book, which is why the writer took issue with director Egoyan who hoped Felicia’s journey could take her from Victoria, b.c. to Vancouver. Davey sent Egoyan overseas to meet with the author and an Irish filming locale was soon agreed upon.

The film made its debut in May at the Cannes Film Festival where many believed it had a good shot at taking the Palme d’Or. The film was passed over, however, by a jury headed by fellow Canuck (and fellow Genie nominee for eXistenZ) David Cronenberg.

Felicia’s Journey was also given the welcome task of opening the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival with a gala screening. Egoyan, however, disqualified his film from the Toronto-City Award competition at tiff (sponsored by Citytv and the City of Toronto) because he had won the $25,000 prize several times before.

The $15-million film marks the fifth time that Egoyan and dop Paul Sarossy (also in the running for a Genie for his contribution to the film) have worked together on a feature.

Felicia’s Journey is distributed by Alliance Atlantis Releasing in Canada, Artisan in the u.s. and Icon worldwide.