Montreal: Four of 18 eligible films have made the final cut for this year’s best motion picture Prix Jutra award at the second edition of the Quebec film awards.

Nominees for best picture are Lea Pool’s coming-of-age story Emporte-moi (Cite-Amerique), Louis Belanger’s movie debut Post Mortem (Coop Video de Montreal), Jean Beaudin’s Souvenirs intimes (Productions du Regards) and the Richard Ciupka suspense thriller Le Dernier Souffle (Films Vision 4).

Post Mortem and director Belanger are fresh from a successful Genie Awards run, taking home the Claude Jutra Award for best first feature and Genies for best original screenplay and best performance by a lead actress, Sylvie Moreau.

Emporte-moi and the Jean-Philippe Duval comedy Matroni et Moi (Max Films) top all nominees with seven Jutra nominations each, followed by Post Mortem with six and Souvenirs intimes and the thriller Dernier Souffle, each with five.

Pool, Belanger and Duval are up for the best director Jutra, as is Francois Bouvier, for Histoires d’hiver (Aska Film).

Art and commerce are typically separate draws in the movie business, and the 1,315 members of the Prix Jutra college who voted in this year’s nomination round held to tradition by shutting out the two top-grossing Quebec movies in ’99 – Les Boys ii (Melenny Productions), this year’s Golden Reel winner with receipts of $5.5 million, and Elvis Gratton II: Miracle at Memphis (acpav).

Internationally acclaimed animation director Frederic Back is the recipient of this year’s career Jutra-Hommage award.

Francois Girard’s The Red Violin won the best motion picture Jutra at last year’s inaugural edition.

The Prix Jutra gala will be broadcast live March 5 on Reseau tva, and the following day internationally on TV5.