MONTREAL — In a repeat of its performance at last year’s Prix Gémeaux, Radio-Canada’s melancholic drama Minuit, le soir swept the 22nd annual French TV awards, picking up seven of its 11 nominations, including best writing, best direction and best drama.

The Zone 3 dramatic comedy about the friendship between three night club bouncers — which received seven nods at the 2006 Gémeaux — ended its three-year run last season with a heart-wrenching final episode in which one of the beloved main characters died.

‘We’re really happy it’s ended this way. The series was very emotional and I think people responded to that,’ said producer Vincent Leduc backstage after picking up the prize for best drama.

‘Our goal was to make people laugh and laugh,’ quipped Pierre Yves Bernard, who cowrote Minuit with actor Claude Legault. The hard-hitting drama was originally meant to be a comedy, but most of the jokes were cut because of time constraints.

Julien Poulin, the star of the hit Elvis Gratton films, picked up his first Gémeaux for his starring role in the series, which drew just under one million viewers at the peak of its popularity. Valérie Héroux won for editing an episode of Minuit, and the sound team of Sébastien Bédard, Guillaume Boursier, Robert Labrosse, Martin Messier, Peggy Morin Marois and Simon Poudrette were also honored, as were composers Mathieu Desaulniers, Dj Kal and Nicolas Maranda.

Of its 10 noms, one of the province’s most popular soaps, TVA’s Annie et ses hommes from Sphère Média Plus, received six awards, including best téléroman and best writing for Bernard Dansereau and Annie Piérard. Actor Denis Bouchard also picked up a Gémeaux for playing Annie’s husband, and Mark Béland was acknowledged for his supporting role as a mentally handicapped man.

For the third consecutive year, SRC’s hit talk show Tout le monde en parle won for best talk show. TMOP‘s coproducer Guy A. Lepage was also voted best host and, for the second year in a row, the two-hour talk show was also the recipient of the Gémeaux’s people’s choice award.

As is often the case at Quebec industry events, things got political. The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television in Quebec’s president Charles Ohayon asked newly appointed Canadian Heritage Minister Josée Verner — who sat in the audience — to continue to fund homegrown programming. ‘We need government and we need broadcasters to support the indigenous TV industry. I would also like to raise my hat to all the artists and technicians who do miracles with considerable constraints,’ said Ohayon.

While he called for sustainable federal funding for Quebec TV, the star of the CBC/SRC mini René Lévesque, Emmanuel Bilodeau, said the time was ripe for Quebec independence. ‘I believe the Canadian government should recognize us as a mature nation. But we need to do it ourselves as well… Vivre le Quebec libre,’ Bilodeau told the crowd while accepting his award for best performance in a dramatic series as the former Parti Québécois leader.

Other winners included Suzanne Clément, star of Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin (also from Sphère Média Plus), the comedy about a single mother who runs a talent agency that SRC is bringing back for a second run. Clément’s costar Elise Guilbeault also won for her supporting role in the series.

Although the TVA crime drama Le négociateur, by Les Productions Sovimage, led the pack with 12 nominations, it only picked up three awards: best actress (Louise Forestier) best supporting actress (Angèle Coutu) and best cinematography (Jérôme Sabourin). Although it allows the independent producers it works with to submit nominations, TVA — which has an audience share of around 30% — doesn’t submit its ‘in house’ productions for Gémeaux nominations because it maintains the Academy is biased in favour of Radio-Canada. The cable network TQS also declines to participate in the Academy’s nomination process.

In a surprise win, François en séries from Locomotion distribution, a comedy on digital channel Series +, beat out SRC’s long-running hit Rumeurs for best comedy. One of Quebec’s most celebrated veteran actresses, Monique Mercure, also won for her starring role in the téléroman Providence, another from Sphère Média.

The Academy also gave a special achievement award to 70-year-old comic and actor Gilles Latulippe for his outstanding contribution to French-language television. He has performed in over 3,000 programs through the course of his career. In 1967, Latulippe also founded the Théâtre des Variétés, which entertained Quebec audiences with live performances for more than three decades.

The Prix Gémeaux, which was hosted by André Robitaille (Bon Cop, Bad Cop) drew about 1,000 members of the Quebec TV industry to Montreal’s convention center.