Monsieur Lazhar wins 6 Genies
Monsieur Lazhar was the big winner Thursday night at the Genie Awards, earning best picture and five other trophies.
Director Philippe Falardeau took home best director honours and best adapted screenplay for the story of an Algerian immigrant who steps in to teach a middle-school class after their teacher commits suicide.
Monsieur Lazhar was a favourite going into the awards, which were presented in Toronto. The film earned an Oscar nomination earlier this year in the best foreign-language film category.
Luc Déry and Kim McCraw, the Montreal producers who backed the film, are the same team who produced Incendies, which won the best picture Genie in 2011.
Fellag, the Algerian actor who plays the title role of Bashir Lazhar won best actor and young star Sophie Nélisse, who was 10 when she played the latch-key kid who can’t stop thinking about the death of her previous teacher, took the award for best supporting actress.
Nélisse, now 11, becomes the youngest Genie winner since Nina Petronzio won for Vincent and Me in 1991.
A Dangerous Method also earned significant recognition, getting five Genies, including best supporting actor for Viggo Mortensen, who played Sigmund Freud in the film about the relationship between Freud and fellow father of contemporary psychoanalysis, Carl Jung.
Mortensen, a Habs fan, dedicated his award to the Montreal Canadiens, before wrapping it in a Canadiens flag.
“I must thank first and foremost David Cronenberg for taking a chance on me. I don’t think any other director would have thought of me as Sigmund Freud,” Mortensen said.
Mortensen said he needed a lot of help from his makeup artist to play Sigmund Freud, but once he got used to the amount of dialogue in the film – he and Jung have intense conversations about the direction of psychoanalysis – he was able to relax into the role.
“I can talk on film,” he quipped on the red carpet, poking fun at the many roles in which he is a man of few words.
The sumptuous settings and rich look of the film, which is set in turn of the century Zurich and Vienna, earned a best artistic direction honour for James McAteer.
A Dangerous Method also won the awards for best sound, best sound editing and best score, with Hollywood veteran Howard Shore taking the Genie for his original score.
Café de Flore, Jean-Marc Vallée’s ambitious romance, had a leading 11 nominations going into the Genie Awards, but had to settle for just three wins. It took best makeup and best visual effects and French actress Vanessa Paradis, playing the mother of a young boy with Down syndrome, took the trophy for best actress.
Starbuck, the Ken Scott-directed comedy that was a hit with Canadian audiences, was previously named winner of the Golden Reel for best box office. It also earned best original script for Scott and Martin Petit.
Starbuck is the story of a guy who gave to a sperm bank 20 years ago and ended up fathering 533 children, who are suing to discover his identity. Carole Facal’s Quelque part, from Starbuck, was named best original song.
The best feature documentary Genie went to At Night, They Dance, the story of a family of Egyptian belly dancers, by Lucie Lambert, Isabelle Lavigne, Stéphane Thibault.
Best short documentary was Sirmilik, a short by Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk created for the National Parks Project series. Best live action short was Doubles with Slight Pepper by Ian Harnarine and Ryan Silbert.
2012 Genie winners
Best film: Monsieur Lazhar
Best art direction: A Dangerous Method, James McAteer
Best cinematography: Snow & Ashes, Jean-François Lord
Best actor: Monsieur Lazhar, Fellag
Best actress: Café de Flore, Vanessa Paradis
Best supporting actor: A Dangerous Method, Viggo Mortensen.
Best supporting actress: Monsieur Lazhar, Sophie Nélisse
Costume: Funkytown, Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt
Best director: Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau
Best editing: Monsieur Lazhar, Stéphane Lafleur
Best makeup: Café de Flore, Christianne Fattori, Frederic Marin
Original score: Café de Flore, Howard Shore
Best song: Starbuck, Carole Facal