With a Directors Guild of Canada statuette, awarded in October for helming Rare Birds, resting in his trophy case and an unprecedented two MOWs premiering Dec. 15 simultaneously in Canada and the U.S., Christmas has come early for Sturla Gunnarsson. Add to that a possible best director Genie win, and we could easily dub 2002 ‘The Year of the Gunnarsson.’

‘I’m everywhere,’ the veteran director says, laughing about the timing of the broadcast of The Man Who Saved Christmas, produced by Alliance Atlantis for CBS, and 100 Days in the Jungle, an ImagiNation copro for CTV, both to be broadcast at 9 p.m.

Gunnarsson’s Genie nom is one of five for Rare Birds, which was produced for $5 million. Others include best picture, cinematography for Jan Kiesser and screenplay adaptation for Edward Riche.

Based on the Riche-penned novel, Rare Birds is set in Newfoundland and tells the story of Dave Purcell, played by William Hurt, a restaurateur who returns home to open an upscale French bistro on a rocky cliff. It is a gastronomic venture that predictably fails due to a cold reception from the town’s earthy locals, not to mention its location’s wild terrain.

But as the bank moves to repossess, Dave’s close friend Alphonse Murphy, played by Andy Jones (Random Passage), devises a plan to save the business by claiming to have sighted a rare duck in the vicinity of the restaurant, hoping to attract birdwatchers from the world over. The ploy works, success follows and Dave even gets the girl, played by Molly Parker.

The film earned $400,000 over a 12-week run in Canada, with a $7,000 per screen average.

In perhaps a preview of the Genies, Rare Birds swept the DGC Awards earlier this year, taking honors beyond best director for outstanding achievement in editing, production design and best feature film.

But in the case of the DGC wins, Rare Birds wasn’t up against the likes of heavy hitters Ararat, Spider and Bollywood/Hollywood, as will be the case at this year’s Genies. Still, among these, only Rare Birds has the distinction of receiving twinning noms in the best picture and director categories.

All the same, Gunnarsson is not holding his breath. ‘Historically comedies don’t fare well in those kinds of award situations, so I’m trying to keep my expectations low,’ he says. ‘There are a lot of strong movies. I think Rare Birds certainly holds its own. I just find that awards are very capricious.’

Gunnarsson is no stranger to awards. His last feature effort, Such a Long Journey, was nominated for 12 Genies, winning three, in 1998. The first film he made, the documentary After the Axe, was nominated for an Oscar in 1983. Gunnarsson’s films have won Genies (best feature-length documentary for Final Offer in 1986), Geminis (best MOW for Scorn in 2001), and a Prix Ville de Cannes (in 1992 for the feature Diplomatic Immunity).

So, would a Genie win help in terms of getting the films he wants to do off the ground?

Gunnarsson’s been in the business long enough not to get too ahead of himself. ‘It is very difficult in Canada, at least for me, to think in terms of moving directly from one feature to the next,’ he says. ‘In Canada…after every success you have to make a comeback.’

That said, Gunnarsson is in development for the feature film version of the Anglo-Saxon hero-myth Beowulf, which he hopes to shoot this summer in the isolated East Fjords of his native Iceland. It is, indeed, a project close to the director’s heart, allowing him to shoot a mythological tale in his homeland, where such legends remain an essential part of the national identity. He has been in development for two and a half years.

Should Beowulf go to camera, it would certainly be the icing (excuse the pun) on the cake – an epic follow-up for what is rounding out to be an epic year for the veteran director.