Omni Film Productions, Cineflix Productions and Clearwater Documentary were among the multiple award winners at the first night of the 26th annual Gemini Awards, which recognized talent in the news and sports, documentary, lifestyle and reality categories.

Cineflix’s Nazi Hunters, which airs on History Television, picked up awards for Best History Documentary Program and Best Direction in a Documentary Series (pictured, P.J. Naworynski) while Omni Film’s Ice Pilots NWT, which airs on the same network, picked up wins in the Best Original Music for a Lifestyle/Practical Information or Reality Program or Series category, and the Best Photography in an Information Program or Series category.

Meanwhile, Clearwater’s Code Breakers, which aired on CBC, picked up the gong for Best Science, Technology, Nature Environment or Adventure Documentary, as well as the prize for Best Photography in a Documentary Program or Series.

The Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program went to the NFB’s Life with Murder, a documentary film by triple Emmy Award-winning director John Kastner; while Meltdown: the Secret History of the Global Collapse picked up prizes for Best Visual Research and Best Writing in a Documentary Program or Series.

The other main winners on the first night of the awards were CBC’s Africa on the Move, which won best Documentary Series; CBC’s Acquainted with the Night, which won Best Direction in a Documentary Program; and History Television’s Storming Juno Interactive, which picked up the prize for Best Cross-Platform Project – Non Fiction.

The Best Performing Arts Program or Series or Arts Documentary Program or Series gong went to The National Parks Project. In all, 52 Gemini Award winners were named on the first night of the awards.

“My heartfelt congratulations to all of tonight’s winners,” said Helga Stephenson, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television’s Interim CEO. “It’s truly wonderful to acknowledge and celebrate these great Canadian talents while surrounded by such an impressive group of individuals from the Canadian television and digital media industries.”

The remaining 61 winners in the Drama, Children’s or Youth, Comedy and Variety categories, as well as the remaining five Academy Special Awards, will be presented tomorrow (August 31) at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto.

The full list of winners from the first night are listed below the photos:

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Barbara Sears Award for Best Editorial Research
Jane Burgess, Andrew Easterbrook, Jonathan Woodward – The Pig Farm

Best Biography Documentary Program
Mordecai Richler: The Last of the Wild Jews
Mary Armstrong, David Sherman

Best Breaking News Coverage
CBC News: Here & Now: Hurricane Igor
Doug Letto, Rod Dobbin

Best Breaking Reportage, Local
Francis D’Souza, Alfredo Colangelo – CityTV – G20 Summit

Best Breaking Reportage, National
Adrienne Arsenault – CBC News The National – Pakistan Floods

Best Cross-Platform Project – Children’s and Youth
Babar and the Adventures of Badou Interactive
Caitlin O’Donovan

Best Cross-Platform Project – Fiction
DatingGuy.com
Matthew Hornburg, Mark J. W. Bishop, Ted Brunt, Julie Dutrisac, Johnny Kalangis

Best Cross-Platform Project – Non-Fiction
Storming Juno Interactive
James Milward, Ryan Andal, Noora Abu Eitah, Pietro Gagliano, Steve Miller

Best Direction in a Documentary Program
Michael McNamara – Acquainted With the Night

Best Direction in a Documentary Series
P.J. Naworynski – Nazi Hunters – Erich Priebke

Best Direction in a Lifestyle/Practical Information Program or Series
Grant Greschuk – Village on a Diet – Beyond the Diet

Best Direction in a Live Sporting Event
Chris Elias – 2010 Queen’s Plate

Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series
Oleh  J. Rumak – the fifth estate – Above Suspicion

Best Documentary Series
Africa on the Move
Sue Dando, Peter John Ingles, Paul Morin

Best History Documentary Program
Nazi Hunters: Herbert Cukurs
Simon Lloyd, Nick Godwin

Best Host in a Lifestyle/Practical Information, or Performing Arts Program or Series
Gail Vaz-Oxlade – Princess – Princess Nicola

Best Host or Interviewer in a News Information Program or Series
Mark Kelley – Connect with Mark Kelley

Best Lifestyle/Practical Information Segment
Ron Waksman, Laurie Few, Mary Garofalo, Brennan Leffler – 16:9 The Bigger Picture – Electronic Pickpocket

Best Lifestyle/Practical Information Series
Til Debt Do Us Part
Jamie Brown, Jennifer Horvath

Best Live Sporting Event
HNIC on CBC – Heritage Classic
Trevor Pilling, Sherali Najak, Brian Spear

Best Local Newscast, Large Market
News Hour
Ian Haysom, Clive Jackson, Randy McHale, Tim Perry, Doug Sydora

Best Local Newscast, Small Market
CBC News Saskatchewan
Paul Dederick, Chris Lane, Costa Maragos, Jonathan Shanks, Anna-May Zeviar

Best News Anchor
Dawna Friesen – Global National

Best News Information Segment
Adrienne Arsenault, Stephanie Jenzer, Claude Panet-Raymond, Keith Whelan – CBC News The National – Mexico’s Deadly Explosion

Best News Information Series
CBC News: Marketplace
Tassie Notar

Best News Special Event Coverage
CBC News: The New Governor General
Mark Bulgutch, Tom Dinsmore, Fred Parker

Best Original Music for a Lifestyle/Practical Information or Reality Program or Series
Graeme Coleman – Ice Pilots NWT – Arnie Calls It

Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series
Claudio Vena – T O in 2 4

Best Original Program or Series produced for Digital Media – Non-Fiction
The Test Tube with David Suzuki
Rob McLaughlin, Loc Dao, Tyler Kealer, Kris McLaughlin, Nate Smith

Best Performing Arts Program or Series or Arts Documentary Program or Series
The National Parks Project
Ryan J. Noth, Joel McConvey, Kristina McLaughlin, Kevin McMahon, Michael McMahon, Geoff Morrison

Best Photography in a Documentary Program or Series
Daron Donahue – Code Breakers

Best Photography in an Information Program or Series
Sean Cable, Todd Craddock – Ice Pilots NWT – Under Pressure

Best Picture Editing in a Documentary Program or Series
Sally Blake, Avril Jacobson – Peep Culture

Best Picture Editing in an Information Program or Series
Clark Masters, Richard Rotter – Best. Trip. Ever.

Best Science, Technology, Nature, Environment or Adventure Documentary Program
Code Breakers – Niobe Thompson

Best Sound in an Information/Documentary Program or Series
Mark Gingras, Christian Cooke, Sanjay Mehta, Adrian Tucker – Yonge Street – Toronto Rock & Roll Stories

Best Sports Analysis or Commentary (Program, Series or Segment)
Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Anniversary Special
Rick Chisholm, Robert MacAskill, Don Young

Best Sports Analyst
Jim Bannon – 2010 Queen’s Plate

Best Sports Feature Segment
Michael Farrell, James Cybulski – SportsCentre: Jay Triano and Terry Fox Feature

Best Sports Play-by-Play Announcer
Mark Lee – 2010 Canadian Track & Field Championships

Best Sports Reporting
Elliotte Friedman – HNIC on CBC – Heritage Classic

Best Sportscaster/Anchor
Jay Onrait – SportsCentre

Best Talk Series
George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight
George Stroumboulopoulos, David Freeman, Tania Natscheff

Best Visual Research
Sonja Carr, Benoît Michaud – Meltdown: The Secret History of the Global Collapse – The Men Who Crashed The World

Best Writing in a Documentary Program or Series
Terence McKenna – Meltdown: The Secret History of the Global Collapse – A Global Tsunami

Best Writing in an Information Program or Series
Linden MacIntyre – the fifth estate – The Betrayal

Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program
Life With Murder
John Kastner, Silva Basmajian

Story: Realscreen / Photos: Playback