Of the 81 nominees vying for Rockie Awards at Banff this year, 10 programs hail from Canadian producers.

The u.k. leads the way with 22 nominations, followed by the u.s. with 18 and France with 12. The nominees are drawn from 21 countries and compete for prizes in 14 categories.

Of the Canadian Rockie contenders, seven are coproductions, three of which involve the National Film Board.

A Rockie winner last year for the documentary Gabrielle Roy, Buffalo Gal Pictures of Winnipeg is competing this year in the arts documentary category for The Genius of Lenny Breau, a coproduction with Sleeping Giant Productions of Toronto.

In the animation category are: Snow Cat, produced by Snow Cat Productions and the nfb; La Plante humaine, a coproduction between the nfb and Arcadia Films of France; and, Crashbox, produced by Toronto’s Cuppa Coffee Animation in association with Planet Grande/hbo in the u.s.

A High Road Productions/nfb coproduction, Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows, is nominated in the sports category. In the tv movie section is Shot Through The Heart, a Canada/u.k./Hungary joint venture produced by Alliance Atlantis Communications, Company Pictures and Transatlantic Media Associates.

The Inventors’ Specials – Edison: The Wizard of Light, a Canada/Ireland coproduction from Devine Entertainment/ Merlin Films Groups is up for a Rockie in the children’s category, while Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles from Requisite Productions is a contender in the history and biography competition.

Absolute Truth from the bbc and Vision tv is nominated in the social and political documentary category, while the competition in the information category includes Zone libre: L’Irian Jaya from Radio-Canada.

Rockie Awards jurors sifted through a total of 952 entries from 38 countries. The awards will be handed out June 14 in Banff.

On pages B4-B11 we look at some of the Canadian contenders and the talent behind them.