Polytechnique, the powerful drama about the 1989 Montreal massacre, leads a pack of little-known titles at the 30th annual Genie Awards, with the contentious yet acclaimed film scoring 11 nominations, including best picture.

With the exception of Kari Skogland’s Fifty Dead Men Walking (which secured seven nominations overall), the best picture race is comprised of mostly unknown titles such as the poetic debut feature Nurse.Fighter.Boy (with 10 nods), the Inuit survival picture Before Tomorrow (nine noms) and Quebec’s out-of-the-blue contender 3 Saisons (three nods), the latter virtually unheard of.

More oddities this year include the fact that Quebec fantasy pic Grande ourse: la clé des possibles scored eight nominations, but zero of them in major categories. Meanwhile, high-profile international film festival winners such as Xavier Dolan’s teen angst drama J’ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother) – which took home three prizes from Cannes (and won a slew of awards elsewhere) – did not receive one single Genie nomination.

Nonetheless, I Killed My Mother does have a guaranteed prize – the Claude Jutra Award for outstanding achievement by a first-time filmmaker – joining other Montrealers in the Special Awards category (see story, p. 26).

Other snubs include Ruba Nadda’s Cairo Time and Atom Egoyan’s Adoration, with the latter collecting only two nods (original screenplay and supporting actor for Scott Speedman), while Cairo only picked up a single acknowledgement (costume design for Brenda Broer).

‘We’re in good snubbed company!’ laughs Nadda, who brushes off disappointment over the lack of Genie recognition for her first feature, which has garnered both critical acclaim and wide international distribution, including an upcoming release in the formidable U.S. market.

So how could this happen?

‘There’s always some films that people feel have been overlooked or not sufficiently recognized,’ counters Sara Morton, CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. ‘The system doesn’t explicitly take into account whether people know the films; it’s not based on popularity,’ she adds, pointing out that the Academy is very meticulous about the selection of its committee, comprised of critics, filmmakers and Academy members.

The selection process is arduous. In order to be eligible for the Genies, a project must qualify as a Canadian film production or coproduction (as defined by CAVCO and/or CRTC criteria) and have had a theatrical release in Canada between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of the previous year.

Polytechnique director Denis Villeneuve and Skogland are the obvious frontrunners among the contenders for best directing, yet a shake-up may come from fellow veteran helmer Bruce McDonald for Pontypool, or from newcomers Charles Officer for Nurse and Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu for Before Tomorrow.

For Skogland, the recognition caps a winning year for female filmmakers, as she recalls a review of her Belfast-shot political thriller from film critic Roger Ebert, who said Skogland and Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow ‘blew the lid off the notion that women can’t direct action.’

‘For me, that was it. I’d taken the last 20 years to advocate for my sisters and myself [and] the playing field just leveled off. I’m hoping for nothing but more,’ she says.

Polytechnique star Karine Vanasse – the ‘driving force’ behind the film, according to producer Don Carmody – nabbed her second nomination for actress in a leading role, pitting the Quebec native against Gabrielle Rose for drama Mothers & Daughters, Karen LeBlanc for Nurse, Madeline Piujuq Ivalu for Before Tomorrow and Carinne Leduc for 3 Saisons.

Stephen McHattie, who won a supporting actor Genie for The Rocket in 2006, is up for lead actor for Pontypool, alongside Joshua Jackson for road-trip drama One Week, Clark Johnson for Nurse, and child stars Jean-Carl Boucher for the comedy 1981 and Paul Dylan Ivalu for Before Tomorrow.

The Genies will be handed out on April 12 in Toronto. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live on Canwest-owned IFC and via live webcast on CBC.ca.

It marks the first time the annual fete will be televised online, according to Morton, who says the Academy hopes to garner a ‘reasonable’ audience on that platform.

‘[It’s] part of the initiative to make our content available to people where they want to see it,’ she says. The Genies will also be rebroadcast on The Movie Network/Movie Central.