It’s a jolly, well-attended annual sport: cut up the Genie Awards, and get diligent about it. Take the host(s) and sets to task, rip apart the production values, snore through acceptance speeches, and snicker knowingly at the missing names on the list of nominees. Not exclusive to the Genies, this pastime is enjoyed internationally, from the Oscars to the Cesars.

However, one criticism does stand apart as a national cause celebre and digs to the root of the Genies: what is the purpose of a Canadian film awards show televised to a public that sees and hears little, if anything, of the nominated films and their makers?

Robert Lantos, ceo of Alliance Communications and an oft-quoted commentator on the Genie Awards, says: ‘The Genies don’t have the same influence as the Oscars where even the mention of a nomination stirs up interest. With the Genies, all benefits come from the fact that the awards ceremony is broadcast. There are about one million people watching clips and catching a glimpse of the stars.’

The Genies are a month away, and with this year’s scroll of nominees recently announced, the debate over public relevance may at last have expired. The feeling at the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television is that the chronic issue is now a non-issue, thanks to the public prominence of at least four of the five films nominated for best film.

Atom Egoyan’s Exotica, winner of the Toronto-City Award at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival and the Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, to date has done $456,000 box office on 15 screens in Canada, has been flogged by a promotional tour of the director, and the distributor, Alliance Releasing has mounted posters, tv and radio ads and massive billboards across the country.

Louis 19, le roi des ondes has not yet been released in English Canada, but managed the highest reported box office for a Canadian film in two years – $1.8 million in Quebec alone. Distributed by Malofilm, Louis 19 opened on 35 screens in the province in April and was preceded by a powerful promotional campaign that included ads in all media and a contest that offered $50,000 in winnings.

Whale Music, another Alliance release, snagged two prestigious slots on this year’s Canadian film festival circuit: it opened both the Perspective Canada program at the Toronto fest and the Vancouver International Film Festival. The film will run on eight screens by the time of the Genie broadcast on Dec. 7. Since the premiere in Toronto, star Maury Chaykin and writer Paul Quarrington have been flanked with public attention.

Double Happiness, director Mina Shum’s first feature, arrived at the Toronto fest with Toronto-based film publicist Virginia Kelly onside. Since then, Shum and star Sandra Oh have appeared in dozens of interviews. A slick poster was produced without the help of a distributor, and the film went on to gain critical acclaim at both the Vancouver and Toronto festivals. A deal with a distributor is in the process of being struck.

While Mon amie Max was a critical success, it did barely $60,000 on five screens during its Quebec release. CFP Distribution does not have plans at this stage to release the Michel Brault-directed film in English.

Maria Topalovich, acct director and former head of communications, has been asked to justify the Genies’ public connection for 15 years. This year, she says, the tide has finally turned. ‘I’m really glad the heat is off us. The perennial mantra of the media – why are we bothering when no one knows these movies – is gone this year.’

The current theatrical status of the nominated films is what lies behind the 1994 Genie’s good fortune, says Topalovich. ‘There is no question that (criticism) has been dispelled this year because of the timing and the movies that have been nominated.’

But make no mistake, she says, selection is the luck of the draw. ‘Yes, it is wonderful and exciting when the Genie Awards can tangibly assist Canadian films the way they will this year, but we can’t do that on our own. All those circumstances are out of our control. If in any given year the films our juries feel are the best in terms of craftsmanship happen to be older movies that aren’t playing theatrically anymore, there is nothing we can do about it.’

In 1991, the Academy altered its entry terms to allow newer and festival-screened films into the competition, thus acknowledging a legitimate link between the awards event and the marketing of Canadian movies. That same year, the Academy also changed the show date from spring to fall as recognition of what Topalovich calls ‘the Canadian film season.’

Lantos says films in current run receive the most promotional benefit from the Genies. ‘The show becomes a two-hour-long commercial for the nominated films which are in release. From a marketing point of view, two hours of free exposure to potential ticket-buyers is valuable for the companies geared up to take advantage of it. We always try to have our films in release so that we can reap the benefits of that airtime, which is why a two-hour live broadcast on a national network is essential.’

Topalovich maintains promoting current pics is not the Genies’ aim. ‘Our objective here is not to be a marketing tool for new films. We are here to celebrate and recognize outstanding achievement in all the various crafts. So if it happens to be older movies, so be it. We get beaten up about it by the media, but at the end of the day, the craftspeople that are being recognized should be recognized. We’re not an extension of distribution companies. We’re not there to help films.’

Topalovich is referring specifically to films in distribution, and she says while it is not the Academy’s priority to aid the release of a picture, she hopes a film such as Exotica will be given ‘longer legs’ by the nominations and potential wins.

Asked if the Genies have helped to extend the life a film, Topalovich says, ‘They have historically.’ She points to The Grey Fox (best film in ’83) as an example. ‘It hadn’t opened theatrically yet (by Genie time). (Producer) Peter O’Brian named the Genies as the major promotional vehicle for the success the film and for expanding public awareness of the film,’ she says.

The other notable example Topalovich mentions is Ticket to Heaven. ‘Andy Myers (of Norstar) reminded me the other day that the film had opened theatrically and had finished its run. It flourished at the Genies and they rereleased it and did some major business for awhile.’

The Academy recognizes its ability to help promote and market films at Genie time, says Topalovich, and this year’s addition of pre- and post-promotional tv shows are proof.

The Academy is producing Genies Countdown, a half-hour infotainment package featuring Genie-nominated filmmakers and stars and hosted by Brian Linehan. The cbc will broadcast the show one week prior to the Genies broadcast.

The aim, says Topalovich, is to promote the spectacle as well as the five films nominated for best film. ‘I have always wanted a promotional preshow so that the public would know who some of these nominees were. It helps set up the stakes for interest in the show proper, but it also expands the interest in the films themselves.’

The post-show is a French-language acct/Radio-Canada coproduction set to air on the French network at 11 p.m. on Genie night.

Topalovich says she has always wanted to add these bookends to the show, but this was the first time she got the nod from the broadcasters. ‘In the past, the airtime was not available. This year, I was able to get the powers that be to recognize the need for something like this.’

The promotional Genie package has always included theatrical trailers of the five nominated films. What has changed over time is an increase in the number of screens, and this year, 85% of available screens in Canada will carry the trailers.

Topalovich says the public, promotional function of the Genie is integral: ‘It’s not just puffery, it’s reinforcing the fact that we have quite an extraordinary film industry.’