Every year when the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announces Genie Award nominations (or the Prix Gemeaux and Gemini Awards), the press and the industry abound with conflicting opinion about what should or should not have been nominated.

This year’s 20th annual Genie Awards are no different. In the face of a remarkable year – eXistenZ, Felicia’s Journey, Five Senses, Histoires d’hiver, Post Mortem, Sunshine are in competition for best motion picture – many were called but few were chosen. Of the 31 feature films entered, only 22 drew nominations. It’s an embarrassment of riches that makes the Genies look good and the industry look even better.

We are all entitled to our opinion, of course, but what is most often lost in the cacophony is any sense of the process by which nominees are chosen. Many harbor the mistaken belief that the most popular or most widely released and promoted films are favored over smaller, more obscure titles. Nothing could be further from the truth.

All of the Academy’s awards, including the Genies, are based on the peer jury voting system. It’s what makes us unique in our industry.

This year’s jury was composed of about 90 professionals from all across the country and from all our cinema membership branches including: cinematography, direction, editing, performance, music, and writing. They gathered in Toronto’s Paramount Theatre and over four days screened 31 feature films and 24 theatrical shorts and documentaries in their entirety.

The jury members are charged with selecting what in their professional judgment they believe to be the best performances, crafts and films. Then, after the nominations are announced, the Academy’s cinema members vote in their respective branches for the individuals to be singled out with awards. The entire cinema division votes for the best picture Genie.

The peer jury process may not be perfect, but in my opinion, the results have been pretty good over the years. A quick glance back at some of the past Genie winners reveals a mighty impressive list, including The Grey Fox, Le Declin de l’empire americain, Un zoo la nuit, Dead Ringers, Jesus de Montreal, Black Robe, The Sweet Hereafter and The Red Violin.

Over the 16 years that I’ve been associated with the Academy, I have found peer juries to be incredibly serious and rigorous. In fact, I have often mused that if ever I were to be falsely accused of a serious crime, and I had the choice of a peer jury or a hanging judge, I’d go for the hanging judge – because a peer jury shows no mercy.

It is the peer jury system that gives the awards their legitimacy. Like it or not, the awards represent our collective judgment – the 3,000 members of the Academy who volunteer their time to honor excellence, celebrate individual achievement and promote our programs and our stars to audiences in Canada and around the world.

rudy buttignol is chairman of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.