Box-office star Bon Cop, Bad Cop and Un dimanche à Kigali, a tragic story of the Rwandan genocide, lead the pack with 12 nominations each in this year’s run-up to the Prix Jutra, which on Tuesday unveiled its contenders for the top Quebec film honors.

‘I am very happy – especially that my whole production team has been recognized,’ says Robert Favreau, who received a nod for helming Kigali, a love story set against the backdrop of the 1994 Rwandan massacre. ‘Making a low-budget film about Africa on location was very challenging for all of us. It was a complete culture shock and at times terrifying.’

Produced by Les Productions Équinoxe, Un dimanche à Kigali is also up for best film and cinematography for Pierre Mignot. Veteran Quebec thespian Luc Picard and his costar Fatou N’Diaye are also nominated for their starring roles in the film, which will be released across Canada on DVD Jan. 30.

Kigali is tied with box-office record-breaker Bon Cop, Bad Cop by Park Ex Pictures. The action-comedy featuring rival Quebec and Ontario detectives is nominated for best film, best direction for Ėrik Canuel and best screenplay for Leila Basen, Alex Epstein, Patrick Huard and Kevin Tierney. Receiving a joint nod in the best actor category are Bon Cop‘s costars Huard and Colm Feore.

The Canada/Belgium/France coproduction Congorama, from micro_scope and Tarantula – about a Belgian man who returns to Quebec to find his biological family – received six nominations, including best picture. Congorama‘s director/writer Philippe Falardeau is also up for best screenplay and best direction.

Two films produced by Roger Frappier and Luc Vandal for Max Films received four nominations each: Guide de la petite vengeance, a comedy about an elaborate revenge plot, and La vie secrète des gens heureux, a comic portrait of a strange suburban family.

The ninth annual Jutras will take place Feb. 18 at Montreal’s Place des Arts, broadcast live on Radio-Canada. For the second year, the event will be hosted by Quebec media personality Normand Brathwaite.

The Jutra nominations are based on votes by members of several associations representing Quebec film professionals. To be eligible, films must have played at least a week in Quebec cinemas in 2006.

For the complete list of Jutra nominees, see www.radio-canada.ca/television/jutra2007