MONTREAl: With 13 nominations, Zoo Films’ box-office hit Les 3 p’tits cochons leads the finalists for Quebec’s 10th annual Jutra awards, which were announced Feb. 5 and included a surprise nod for the English-language feature doc Up the Yangtze.

The who’s who of Quebec’s film industry packed Montreal’s Ritz-Carlton ballroom to find out which films were on this year’s Prix Jutra nomination list.

‘Ten years ago, there were 16 films in the running. Today there are 32. I think that demonstrates that the industry is doing well and that more and more Quebecers are interested in watching homegrown cinema,’ Jutra organizer Henri Welsh told the crowd.

Les 3 p’tits cochons, produced at Zoo by Pierre Gendron and Christal Films’ Christian Larouche, was recognized in most categories, including best film and best screenplay for writers Pierre Lamothe and Claude Lalonde. Although Cochons’ producers are pleased, they were disappointed that star comic and first-time helmer Patrick Huard wasn’t nominated.

‘I’m a bit surprised at 13 – after all, this isn’t an auteur film,’ says Gendron. ‘But it’s strange that everyone was acknowledged except for Patrick. He was integral to this film’s success – he created the team.’

Cochons’ other nods include: best cinematography for Bernard Couture, music for Stéphane Dufour, art direction for Gilles Aird, costumes, hair and makeup. Isabelle Richer and Claude Legault are up for best actress and actor, respectively, while Julie Perreault, Paul Doucet and Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge were nominated for their supporting roles.

Right behind Les 3 p’tits cochons is micro_scope’s auteur film Continental, un film sans fusil, which garnered eight nominations, including best film, screenplay for Stéphane Lafleur, cinematography for Sara Mishara, artistic direction for André-Line Beauparlant, editing for Sophie Leblond and sound by the team of Pierre Bertrand, Sylvain Bellemare and Bernard Gariépy Strobl. Réal Bossé also received a nod for his supporting role in the film about four lives that intertwine after a man disappears into the forest.

‘I’m kind of overwhelmed. I knew we were probably in the running for a few, but eight is a lot,’ says producer Luc Déry.

The coproducer of the prize-winning feature doc Up the Yangtze, which was released Feb. 8 in Toronto, was surprised his English-language film was nominated. ‘This was a strong year for documentary films in Quebec, so I’m really pleased,’ saysEyeSteelFilm’s Mila Aung-Thwin.

Shake Hands with the Devil, the English-language drama about the Rwandan genocide, received two nominations: best actor for Roy Dupuis, who stars as Lt-General Roméo Dallaire, and editing for Michel Arcand and Louis Martin-Paradis.

Denys Arcand’s L’âge des ténèbres and the action flick Nitro, from Cirrus Communications, both received six nominations. Arcand received nods for best directing and screenwriting, and Marc Labrèche and Sylvie Léonard are up for their starring roles in his tale of an alienated civil servant.

Surviving My Mother picked up two nominations: best supporting actress for Véronique LeFlaguais and costumes for Ginette Magny.

The awards will be aired on Radio-Canada on March 9.

For the full list of Jutra nominees, go to www.radio-canada.ca/television/jutra2008/finalistes2008.asp