Quebec cinema has had two major celebrations in the span of one month: first at its official awards show, the Prix Jutra, and then at the national Genie Awards on March 21, where it again flexed its might. Productions based in Quebec hauled away three-quarters of the Genie statues (15 awards), with Ontario chiming in for five trophies, and B.C. barely on the radar with one lone prize, for best doc winner The Corporation.

For the first time, the Genies bestowed the best motion picture prize on an animated film, director Sylvain Chomet’s Les Triplettes de Belleville. The toon phenom already seems old; it was nominated for an Oscar more than one year ago, but by Genie regulations it qualified this year. The film, a minority copro with France and Belgium, is a hybrid of 2D and 3D animation, with 90% of its 2D work produced in Montreal.

Director Chomet, a native of France who moved to Montreal in the 1990s but has since returned home, was not on hand to accept the award. In an unusual move, the trophy was picked up by Patrice Théroux, COO of the Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution Group, which released the film locally along with Remstar Distribution.

It proved to be the film’s sole award. Earlier in the night, its Oscar-nominated composer Benoit Charest was upset for original score by Terry Frewer, who took the prize for the drama Head in the Clouds, set in Paris in the 1930s and ’40s.

That film, a majority Canada copro from Montreal’s Remstar Productions, led the pack with a total of four awards. But Genie voters apparently found the US$16-million film a case of style over substance. Despite also winning for cinematography (Paul Sarossy), editing (Dominique Fortin) and costume design (Mario Davignon), it wasn’t nominated for direction, screenplay or for any of its high-profile actors, including Oscar winner Charlize Theron, Penélope Cruz and Stuart Townsend.

Belleville’s best picture win came as somewhat of a surprise, if only because it seemed that everything was going the way of Mémoires affectives, a Quebec drama about an amnesiac struggling to figure out his past life.

The film, the big winner at last month’s Prix Jutra, took home the direction Genie for 33-year-old Francis Leclerc, along with screenplay for Leclerc and Marcel Beaulieu, and actor for the ubiquitous Roy Dupuis.

‘It was a pleasure making this film. I’m proud of it,’ Dupuis said in French at the podium.

Although the auteur film has been far from a smash in Quebec, with $463,000 in receipts at press time, it has rebounded in re-release.

‘We’re very surprised for the two categories,’ Leclerc said in French before learning of Dupuis’ win. ‘I didn’t expect it.’

The 25th annual Genies raised questions about the show’s ongoing relevance if it’s going to include films from Quebec’s far healthier film industry, when Quebec already has its own awards show. But the point repeatedly made by the French-language winners backstage was that the Genie wins should help their films find an audience in English Canada. The event’s marketing value will be put to the test when Odeon Films opens Mémoires as Looking for Alexander in Toronto on April 8 on one screen.

Quebec star Pascale Bussières, as many expected, picked up her first Genie in her fourth try for portraying the roller-coaster life of Quebec musical icon Alys Robi in Ma vie en cinémascope. Bussières also took the Jutra for the role.

‘To win one at home is more casual, I guess. To win here seems bigger, because it gives the film a chance to have a life in English,’ she told reporters backstage.

The Claude Jutra Award, given to a first-time feature director as voted by a special selection committee, went to Quebec helmer Daniel Roby for the well-received La peau blanche. However, the choice seemed inconsistent with the fact that debut director David ‘Sudz’ Sutherland, out of Toronto, was up for best director for Love, Sex & Eating the Bones, and Roby was not.

Ironically, in a year so dominated by French-language cinema, the Golden Reel Award, for biggest box office, went to an English-language production, the sci-fi actioner Resident Evil: Apocalypse. The 80/20 Canada/U.K. copro has taken in more than $6 million at the domestic till and US$64 million worldwide, according to Variety.

In accepting the award, producer Don Carmody took a dig at critics who have questioned the movie’s Cancon, noting that the film was ‘100% shot in Toronto’ and employed hundreds of local workers.

Chris Landreth’s Ryan took the prize for animated short, marking the 39th award for the film, perhaps the most high-profile domestic production of the year after its Oscar win. Unfortunately, viewers did not see Landreth get his award live, as the category was not part of the scheduled broadcast.

The soirée, emceed by Andrea Martin, was broadcast on CHUM Television stations nearly nationwide, one year after the caster took over the show from CBC. SCTV alum Martin worked hard to keep the mood light for the crowd at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, going so far as to resurrect her Edith Prickly character.

While ratings for the broadcast were not available at press time, CHUM was certainly challenged by the fact that, aside from Triplettes, none of the French-language films has been released in English Canada, alienating the majority of the show’s potential viewership. Compounding the problem, many of the Quebec winners delivered their acceptance speeches in French.

The full list of winners is available on the Genie Awards website.

-www.genieawards.ca