Rams, Titans, Sunshine, Felicia’s Journey – it was a sheer toss up on the evening of Jan. 30, when the majority of the continent was placing bets on the Super Bowl and an elite filmmaking community in Canada gathered at the Toronto Convention Centre for the 20th Annual Genie Awards.

Well, as most of us already know, the Rams took the Bowl and Sunshine took the Genie for Best Motion Picture – perfect timing considering the film went into wide release two days earlier. Producer Robert Lantos said the move was planned to coincide with the Genies, adding that ‘despite the Super Bowl, someone must be watching.’

Preliminary viewership numbers total 395,000 (average per minute) this year, up from last year’s draw of 352,000.

While most weren’t surprised that Lantos and coproducer Andras Hamori landed the highest esteem of the ceremony, especially considering they had a two-in-six chance, the biggest shocker came when two-time director Jeremy Podeswa won for achievement in direction, beating out industry favorite Atom Egoyan and Sunshine director Istvan Szabo.

In fact, Hamori was rather dismayed that Szabo lost to Podeswa. ‘I could enjoy this award more if Istvan would have won,’ he said.

As for Podeswa, who admitted he expected Szabo to win, he was as shocked as anyone. ‘To be in that company,’ he said, referring to his running mates, ‘makes you more nervous…and is a real vote of encouragement.’

‘It’s like gravy,’ he added, comparing the win to all his festival recognition, including the five-minute standing ovation at Cannes.

Podeswa’s only disappointment was that friend and Genie competitor Lea Pool left empty-handed.

In his ever humble and eloquent style, and with wife Arsinee Khanjian in tow, Egoyan, whose Felicia’s Journey picked up the night’s record four awards said, ‘I had so many questions about being able to do this adaptation, having to understand the tenor of the language, and I was happy the Academy recognized that.’

Speaking of things foreign, when asked what makes a film Canadian these days, Lantos responded, ‘When a 100% Canadian Academy chooses to vote for a film made by a Canadian, set in a remote part of the world, has little to do with Canada and speaks eloquently for itself… it has to do with where the spirit is, where the guiding light comes from.’

Taking a more modest perspective, he adds, ‘Although it may be perverse to be in competition with two films with my name on them, it was a really strong field with Atom and David [Cronenberg], which makes it more meaningful….In a way, it was like all in the family.’

This year’s Claude Jutra Award for direction of a first feature film was presented to Louis Belanger for Post Mortem. The Golden Reel Award went to the Louis Saia comedy sequel Les Boys ii, which had box-office receipts of $5.5 million. The film was produced by Richard Goudreau of Melenny Productions and distributed by Films Lions Gate.

Following is the complete list of this year’s Genie winners:

Best Motion Picture: Sunshine – producers: Robert Lantos, Andras Hamori

Achievement in Direction: Jeremy Podeswa – The Five Senses

Original Screenplay: Louis Belanger – Post Mortem

Adapted Screenplay: Atom Egoyan – Felicia’s Journey

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Bob Hoskins – Felicia’s Journey

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Sylvie Moreau – Post Mortem

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Mark McKinney – Dog Park

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Catherine O’Hara – The Life Before This

Achievement in Cinematography: Paul Sarossy – Felicia’s Journey

Achievement in Editing: Ronald Sanders – eXistenZ

Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design: Francois Seguin – Souvenirs intimes

Achievement in Costume Design: Renee April – Grey Owl

Achievement in Music – Original Score: Mychael Danna – Felicia’s Journey

Achievement in Music – Original Song: Glenn Coulson, Marty Beecroft, Joe Heslip, Peter Luciani – One Thing to Say (Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang)

Achievement in Overall Sound: Daniel Pellerin, Keith Elliott, Glen Gauthier, Peter Kelly – Sunshine

Achievement in Sound Editing: Jane Tattersall, Fred Brennan, Dina Eaton, Andy Malcolm, David McCallum – Sunshine

Best Feature-length Documentary: Gerry Flahive, Catherine Annau, Yves Bisaillon – Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the ’70s Generation

Best Short Documentary: Bernard Lajoie, Erik Canuel, M. Tatsuo Shimamura – Hemingway: A Portrait

Best Animated Short: David Verrall, Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby – When the Day Breaks

Best Live-action Short Drama: Tina Goldlist, Chris Deacon – Moving Day