Montreal: The thirtysomething cult drama La Vie, la vie (Cirrus Communications/Lux Films) topped all program entries this year, winning 10 Prix Gemeaux including best drama series, best actress for Julie McClemens, best direction for Patrice Sauve, best writing for Stephane Bourguignon and best original score for composer Luc Sicard.

La Vie, la vie had an average network audience of 1.3 million on Radio-Canada last season. And while Bourguignon has declined to pen new episodes, the 39 half-hours that were produced (for a remarkably economical $170,000 each) will be released on video and DVD by Christal Films Distribution on Nov. 26.

The 17th edition of the Gala des Prix Gemeaux, produced by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television – Quebec section, was broadcast on SRC and Reseau de l’Information on Sunday, Sept. 29.

Other multiple Prix Gemeaux program winners include Le Monde de Charlotte (Sphere Media) with five awards, including best teleroman; Un gars, une fille (Avanti Cine Video) with four Gemeaux, including best sitcom; and Enjeux (SRC) with three awards, including best social magazine. The teen (13 to 17) series Dans une galaxie pres de chez vous (Zone3), the sports program Jeux Olympiques de Salt Lake City 2002 (SRC), the cinema magazine Le Septieme (Tele-Quebec) and the doc series Extremis (Macumba International) won three Gemeaux each.

In all, 40 programs from 23 production companies, including broadcaster affiliates, received at least one award. Versatile production house Zone3 topped all producers this year with a total of 15 Gemeaux wins.

In special achievement categories, Astral Media chairman Andre Bureau is the recipient of the Grand Prix de l’Academie, in recognition of his exceptional career contribution to the development of French-language television. The Enjeux report ‘Les enfants refugies de la guerre,’ by Peter Ingles, won the Prix du Multiculturalisme, presented in association with Patrimoine canadien/Canadian Heritage. The new Prix Gemeaux for best website went to www.ilparleaveclesloups.com (Productions Nova Media/Studio Artmedia).

In the performance categories, Germain Houde won the Gemeaux for best male lead in a drama series or program for his performance in Tabou. Henri Chasse and Marie-Therese Fortin won for their performances in the teleroman Le Monde de Charlotte, and Sylvie Leonard and Guy A. Lepage took top performance honors for their roles in the sitcom Un gars, une fille. Best performance in a youth program or series went to Guy Jodoin for Dans une galaxie pres de chez vous.

Tele-Quebec broadcaster Anne-Marie Dussault won two Gemeaux, as host of La Dictee des Ameriques and for her interview with Romeo Saganash on the public affairs series L’Effet Dussault.

Among screenwriters, winners include Richard Blaimert for Le Monde de Charlotte; Guy A. Lepage, Sylvie Bouchard, Marie-Ginette Dagenais, Marie-Frederique Laberge-Milot, Pascal Lavoie, Sylvie Leonard, Martin Perizzolo and Pierre Michel Tremblay for Un gars, une fille; Andre Dubois, Martin Forget and Jean-Francois Pedneault for the comedy Special KM/H 1950 (Les Productions Vendome); and Francois Avard and Fabienne Cortes for Ramdam.

In the photography categories, presented in association with Kodak Canada, Bruce Chun and Jean-Pierre Saint-Louis won the Gemeaux for their work on the drama series La Vie, la vie; Ronald Plante won for the variety performance program Cirque Eloize – Excentricus (Match TV), and Laurent Beauchemin and Marc Gadoury won in the documentary category for Maux d’amour.

Major Prix Gemeaux sponsors and funders are La Monnaie royale du Canada, Telefilm Canada, SODEC, Fonds Canadien de Television, Covitec-Technicolor, Fonds Independant de Production, Kodak Canada, KPMG, Multivet Media and Canadian Heritage.

A complete list of Prix Gemeaux winners is posted on the ACCT website.

Gemeaux program highlights

Following are additional program winners at this year’s Prix Gemeaux.

* Une minute de science svp (National Film Board), best animation program or series

* Le Grand blond avec un show sournois (Zone3), best variety series

* Offenbach a l’Oratoire: la commemoration (Productions Pixcom), best variety

* Infoman (Zone3), best comedy special or series

* La Bottine souriante-comme des demons! (Les Films de l’Isle), best performing arts or arts documentary program or series

* Christiane Charette en direct (SRC/Charette C.), best cultural magazine

* Les Pieds dans les plats (Zone3), best service magazine

* La Dictee des Ameriques (Tele-Quebec), best original game

* Le Telejournal/Le Point (SRC), best newscast

* Zone libre (SRC), best information series

* Decouvert – ‘L’Autopsie d’une catastrophe’ (SRC), best information program

* Maux d’amour (Zone3), best documentary series

* Lauzon Lauzone (Lyla Films), best doc portrait or biography

* Salam Iran, une lettre persane (InformAction), best documentary

* Cornemuse (Telefiction), best children’s series, 3 to 5

* Ramdam (Vivaclic), best children’s series, 6 to 12.

-www.academy.ca