The Eleventh Hour and Nothing are leading, albeit narrowly, the race for this year’s DGC Craft Awards, scoring three nominations each for the annual honors, edging out a pack of other Canuck film and TV projects that includes The Saddest Music in the World, Chasing Freedom and This is Wonderland.

Director’s Guild president Alan Goluboff and Jerry Ciccoritti, a winner last year for his work on Trudeau, announced the noms at a press conference on Aug. 12.

The Eleventh Hour is named twice in the best direction for a TV series category – Kari Skogland for the ep ‘Swimmers’ and David Wellington for his work on ‘Hard Seven.’ They will compete with Sturla Gunnarsson and Peter Wellington, who got the nod for their turns on Da Vinci’s Inquest and Slings & Arrows, respectively. Eleventh Hour’s Paul Winestock is also up for best editing, again for the ‘Hard Seven’ ep.

Production designers Peter Cosco and Jasna Stefanovic are in the running for their work on Nothing, as are editor Michele Conroy and the sound editing team of Kevin Banks, Stephen Barden, Craig Henighan and Jill Purdy. Director Vincenzo Natali, however, was shut out.

Denys Arcand has one of the two nominations for his Les Invasions Barbares, the other going to production designer Francois Seguin, and is up against Guy Maddin for Saddest Music in the World, Lea Pool for The Blue Butterfly and Scott Smith for Falling Angels.

Ciccoritti is also nom’ed, this time for helming the MOW The Many Trials of One Jane Doe.

Saddest Music, Wonderland, and Snakes and Ladders are among the projects with two nominations apiece in the craft category, which awards specific filmmakers. Barbares is also up for a team award for overall best film, along with Mambo Italiano, My Life Without Me and Seven Times Lucky.

The DGC also named the winner of its lifetime achievement award, director Arthur Hiller, and will give its distinguished service honor to industry vet Keith Cutler. All the awards will be handed out on Oct. 2 at the Carlu hall in Toronto. Mary Walsh will host.