A monster year for French-Canadian cinema, and for Denys Arcand’s Les Invasions barbares in particular, culminated with a dominant showing at the 24th Annual Genie Awards in Toronto on May 1.

Arcand’s internationally hailed drama ran away with six major awards, including best picture for producers Denise Robert, Daniel Louis and Fabienne Vonier; actor for Remy Girard; supporting actor for Stephane Rousseau; supporting actress for Marie-Josee Croze; and original screenplay and direction for Arcand.

It has been a whirlwind 12 months for Arcand and producer/wife Robert, who have been jetting around the world in support of the film, picking up trophies at Cannes, the Cesar in Paris, the European Film Awards, the hometown Prix Jutra, and, of course, the Academy Awards.

‘I just lost one year of my life,’ Arcand said afterward. ‘I haven’t been able to write a line for a year. I’ve lived an artificial life. I’m pretty sure it’s going to take four to five months to come down.’

‘It sure is worth it – come on, let’s be honest,’ Robert interjected. Of what the Genies mean to her, she said, ‘The recognition of your peers is most important. They’re the people you know… and love.’

‘You need a home base,’ Arcand added. ‘You need to be grounded. It caps a perfect year.’

La Grande seduction, the smash Quebec comedy that won more Prix Jutra than Invasions and had a leading 11 Genie noms, won in only one category, cinematography for Allen Smith. Quebec filmmaker Robert Lepage, absent due to a commitment with Cirque de Soleil, won for adapted screenplay for La Face cachee de la lune, based on his own stage play.

Another winner from la belle province was Sebastien Rose, who landed the Claude Jutra Award for first-feature direction for Comment ma mere accoucha de moi durant sa menopause.

This year’s Golden Reel Award, for biggest domestic box office in the 12-month period ending Oct. 20, 2003, went to producer Cite-Amerique and distrib Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm for Seraphin: un homme et son peche, for its record-setting $9.6 million in ticket sales. The film was otherwise shut out in the six categories in which it was nominated.

Despite the overwhelming success of French films, there were plenty of English-Canadian cinema boosters in attendance, including hometown Mayor David Miller.

‘[The Genies] are a celebration of the great film industry in Canada that’s centered in Toronto, and we’re very proud of it,’ Miller told Playback before the show. When asked if he had any favorites among the nominees, the mayor said, ‘I’m cheering for Sarah Polley.’

And Toronto-based Polley’s eventual win for best actress for My Life without Me, a drama copro with Spain, was all that averted a French sweep of the major categories. Polley took the occasion to take a shot at Telefilm Canada’s mandate for a more commercial Canadian cinema, and she called for regulating the number of Canadian films on Canadian screens.

‘I would rather [My Life] had made $27 million,’ she said, referring to the Hollywood horror flick Dawn of the Dead, in which she also stars. ‘Odeon got behind [My Life], but there’s only so much you can do when it’s only playing in one theater.’

In the pressroom afterwards, Telefilm executive director Richard Stursberg responded to the actress’ comments to reporters.

‘I’m presuming what Sarah Polley would like is [for] her films to be seen by people,’ he said. ‘We’re not in favor of screen quotas. I don’t know what they do for you. The real way you get people into cinemas is to make movies that people want to see.’

Stursberg then pointed to Telefilm’s promotional efforts on behalf of Canadian films at the recent ShowCanada conference in Vancouver. Counterproductive to the good of Canuck cinema, however, was the fact the Genies and ShowCanada overlapped this year, upsetting many producers and distributors who were forced to choose between the two.

English-Canadian films fared well in the craft categories, which were presented before the TV broadcast. Director Guy Maddin’s deliriously cinematic The Saddest Music in the World won in three of the four categories in which it was nominated: editing for David Wharnsby (who is married to Polley), costume design for Meg McMillan, and original score for Christopher Dedrick.

Best documentary went to FIX: The Story of an Addicted City, by Nettie Wild, while best animated short was given to the National Film Board’s Falling in Love Again.

The show had a different flavor this year, with CHUM TV taking over the reins from CBC. Beforehand, Maria Topalovich, president and CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, which organizes the awards, was effusive in her praise for CHUM’s promotional effforts. The ‘caster tirelessly hyped the Genies for six weeks, with host Scott Thompson, ex-Kid in the Hall, front and center.

‘CHUM has done a fantastic job,’ Topalovich said. ‘We’ve never had this kind of awareness. The media has been so positive and everybody’s electrified.’

Thompson made for an expectedly flamboyant emcee, tossing out racy double entendres and generally bringing a tone of irreverence to the proceedings. Highlights included a taped opening segment a la Billy Crystal that had Thompson auditioning for well-known Canadian films. Later in the show, the comedian grabbed presenter Ryan Reynolds for an Adrien Brody/Halle Berry-style smooch.

Based on the combined delivery of all the stations airing this year’s broadcast – including Citytv in Toronto and Vancouver, Star!, Bravo!, Musimax, ASN and Access – the Genies managed an average minute audience of 115,000 viewers 18+, and a cumulative unduplicated audience of more than one million adult viewers. CHUM matched CBC’s average minute audience of last year, despite having less reach, and it reports that it more than doubled the number of viewers in the 18-34 demographic.

The complete list of winners is available at www.genieawards.ca.