Quebec Cinema Announces the Nominees for the 2020 Iris Awards

This afternoon, live from the living room of actor Guillaume Lambert, Québec Cinéma announced the nominees for the 2020 Iris Awards. While the televised ceremony has been cancelled, Québec Cinéma is working with Radio-Canada and its partners on creative options for presenting the Iris Awards, which recognize the talent and excellence of our filmmakers and their works. The 2019-20 season was an exceptional one for our films. More than ever, Québec Cinéma is eager to see our films, artists and professionals welcomed into as many households as possible. More details will be announced soon.

Over the last few weeks, a review of 30 fictional feature films, 32 feature-length documentaries and 37 fictional shorts led to the selection of a total of 188 nominees. For the awards in the fictional feature categories, more than 2200 voting members of our film industry voted alongside a first-round jury, with 50-50 weighting. The number of members participating was nearly double that of previous years.

"This was an exceptional year for Quebec films, on multiple levels," said Québec Cinéma's executive director, Ségolène Roederer. "Several films found large audiences in Quebec, and six of the seven films in the running for the Iris for Best Film were made by women, an unprecedented development! While we won't be able to celebrate these great talents with the usual grand televised Gala, in the current climate it is as important as ever to highlight the importance of our culture, and to recognize the 2020 Iris winners. We need to feel our pride in our film industry, to the fullest."

THE NOMINEES

Il pleuvait des oiseaux by Louise Archambault leads the pack with 13 nominations, including Best Film, Screenplay, Actress (Andrée Lachapelle), Actor (Gilbert Sicotte), Cinematographer the Audience Award. La femme de mon frère by Monia Chokri is close behind with 11 nominations, including Best Film, Director, Actress (Anne-Élisabeth Bossé), Actor (Patrick Hivon), Most Successful Film Outside Quebec and the Audience Award.

Mafia Inc by Podz garnered 10 nominations, including Best Film, Actor (Marc-André Grondin), Art Direction and the Audience Award.

Le vingtième siècle by Matthew Rankin is up for nine Iris Awards, including Best First Film, Director, Art Direction and Original Music. Antigone by Sophie Deraspe picked up nominations in eight categories, including Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Most Successful Film Outside Quebec and Best Newcomer (Nahéma Ricci). Kuessipan by Myriam Verreault is nominated in seven categories including, among others, Best Film, Director, Most Successful Film Outside Quebec, Screenplay and Newcomer (Sharon Fontaine-Ishpatao); Three films are tied with six nominations each: the nominations for Jeune Juliette by Anne Émond include Best Film, Screenplay, Actor (Robin Aubert) and Newcomer (Alexane Jamieson); Matthias & Maxime by Xavier Dolan picked up nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Micheline Bernard), Supporting Actor (Pier-Luc Funk), Cinematography and Original Music; and Sympathie pour le diable by Guillaume de Fontenay is up for Best First Film, Director, Screenplay and Actor (Niels Schneider).

Fabuleuses by Mélanie Charbonneau is nominated in five categories including Best Film, Actress (Noémie O'Farrell) and Supporting Actress (Juliette Gosselin). The Song of Names by François Girard is in the running for four Iris awards, including Best Sound, Visual Effects and Original Music.

14 jours 12 nuits by Jean-Philippe Duval picked up nominations for Best Actress (Anne Dorval), Cinematography and Editing. Jouliks by Mariloup Wolfe also earned three nominations: Best Newcomer (Lilou Roy-Lanouette), Wardrobe and Makeup. Meanwhile, Menteur by Émile Gaudreault is up for the awards for Best Supporting Actress (Geneviève Schmidt), Best Newcomer (Catherine Chabot) and the Audience Award.

A second film by Louise Archambault is nominated for Iris awards in 2020: Merci pour tout is vying for Best Supporting Actor (Robin Aubert) and the Audience Award. Le rire by Martin Laroche is also a nominee in two categories: Best Actress (Léane Labrèche-Dor) and Best Supporting Actress (Micheline Lanctôt).

Genèse by Philippe Lesage, The Hummingbird Project by Kim Nguyen, Mad Dog Labine by Jonathan Beaulieu-Cyr and Renaud Lessard, Répertoire des villes disparues by Denis Côté and Ville Neuve by Félix Dufour-Laperrière received one nomination each.

In all, 21 fictional features, of 30 eligible, picked up at least one Iris nomination.

DOCUMENTARIES

In the documentary categories, Alexandre le fou by Pedro Pires leads with four nominations: Best Documentary, Cinematography, Editing and Sound. Mad Dog & The Butcher - Les derniers vilains by Thomas Rinfret and Soleils noirs by Julien Elie each garnered nominations in three categories: Best Documentary, Cinematography and Editing. Sur les toits Havane by Pedro Ruiz also landed two nominations: Best Cinematography and Best Sound, while Une femme, ma mère by Claude Demers is in the running for the awards for Editing and Sound. Xalko by Hind Benchekroun and Sami Mermer is nominated for Best Documentary and Best Cinematography. Ziva Postec. La monteuse derrière le film Shoah by Catherine Hébert also picked up two nominations: Best Documentary and Best Editing. Lastly, Échos d'Istanbul by Giulia Frati and La fin des terres by Loïc Darses are both nominated for the award for Best Sound.

OUR FILMS AROUND THE WORLD

Quebec's films were well-travelled this year, earning acclaim around the world. Selected through a weighting system that factors in a film's distribution outside Quebec, the number of international festival selections and awards won from the film's release to March 31, 2020, five feature films are in the running for the IRIS FOR MOST SUCCESSFUL FILM OUTSIDE QUEBEC: Antigone by Sophie Deraspe, La femme de mon frère by Monia Chokri, Genèse by Philippe Lesage, Kuessipan by Myriam Verreault and Répertoire des villes disparues by Denis Côté.

AUDIENCE AWARD

Québec Cinéma will ask the public to vote for one of the five films with the highest Quebec box office receipts during the eligibility period. The finalists for the Audience Award are: La femme de mon frère by Monia Chokri, Il pleuvait des oiseaux by Louise Archambault, Mafia Inc by Daniel Grou (Podz), Menteur by Émile Gaudreault and Merci pour tout by Louise Archambault.

SHORT FILMS

The nominees for BEST FICTIONAL SHORT FILM are Je finirai en prison by Alexandre Dostie, Jojo by Guillaume Laurin, Juste moi et toi by Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers, SDR by Alexa-Jeanne Dubé and Une bombe au cœur by Rémi St-Michel.

As for the IRIS FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM, the nominees are Le cortège by Pascal Blanchet and Rodolphe Saint-Gelais, Le mal du siècle by Catherine Lepage, Organic by Steven Woloshen, Physique de la tristesse by Theodore Ushev and Les vêtements by Caroline Blais.

IRIS HOMMAGE 2020

Each year, the Gala Québec Cinéma honours the lifetime achievements of a person whose work has made a mark on audiences, as well as on our industry's history and progress. This year, the recipient was selected based on a unanimous recommendation from Québec Cinéma's Comité de représentation professionnelle (CRP). We are deeply proud to announce that the IRIS HOMMAGE 2020 will be presented to filmmaker ALANIS OBOMSAWIN.

A member of the Abenaki Nation, Ms. Obomsawin is one of Canada's pre-eminent documentary filmmakers. Her work is acclaimed worldwide. For more than 50 years, she has been a dedicated professional, giving voice, hope and recognition to First Nations. Through her art and determination, she has helped us see once-invisible peoples and hear the voices of nations silenced by the weight of history. A strong proponent of Indigenous pride, she joined the NFB in 1967, where she produced and directed 52 feature-length documentaries, short educational documentaries and fictional shorts. Her body of work focuses on Canada's First Nations, revealing them from new subjective, concerned and sometimes revolutionary perspectives. She is an important figure in our cinematic landscape, a participant in the great documentary tradition with a unique perspective on the world, who enriches our heritage and stirs our memory and conscience.

That is the political, cultural and cinematic legacy of Alanis Obomsawin, a woman whose courage, talent and tenacity have made it possible for her to share the memory of an entire people.

THE SECOND ROUND OF VOTING STARTS TODAY

Today, the nominees for the 18 Iris Awards for fictional features will be submitted to the voting members, who will determine the winner in each category. As in the first round, voters will be able to use Québec Cinéma's screening platform. Note that the winner of the award for best first film is selected by the jury that pre-selects nominees. In addition, a jury of artists and professionals selected by the associations represented on Québec Cinéma's Comité de représentation professionnelle (CRP) will select the winners in the documentary and short-film categories. Voting for the audience award, open to all cinephiles everywhere in Quebec, will open in May.

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