The 2nd Genie Awards were held March 12, 1981, honouring Canadian films released in 1980.Jay Scott, "Genie nominations released". The Globe and Mail, February 10, 1981. The ceremony, which was broadcast live by the CBC, was held at the Royal Alexandra Theatre and was hosted by television host Brian Linehan.Jay Scott, "Les Bons débarras sweeps the Genies". The Globe and Mail, March 13, 1981.
The most notable sight of the evening was Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau escorting starlet Kim Cattrall; the moment received renewed media attention in March 2016 when 60 Minutes, in a profile of Justin Trudeau, ran a photo of the appearance while mis-identifying Cattrall as Margaret Trudeau."60 Minutes mixes up Margaret Trudeau and Kim Cattrall". Toronto Star, March 6, 2016.
The films Good Riddance (Les Bons débarras) and Tribute tied for the most nominations overall. Les bons débarras won most of the major awards, including Best Picture.
For the first time, screenings for academy members were held in western Canada, in Edmonton and Vancouver. Later in the year the Academy of Canadian Cinema held the Bijou Awards, a one-time ceremony to honour non-feature and non-theatrical films, and to present some of the specialized categories that had been dropped from the Genies in their transition from the Canadian Film Awards."Brides nominated for 7 awards". The Province, October 7, 1981.
Award winners and nominees Motion Picture Direction Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) (Claude Godbout, Marcia Couelle) The Handyman (L'Homme à tout faire) (René Malo) The Hounds of Notre Dame (Fil Fraser) The Lucky Star (André Fleury, Claude Léger) Tribute (Joel B. Michaels, Garth Drabinsky) Francis Mankiewicz, Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) Bob Clark, Tribute Zale Dalen, The Hounds of Notre Dame Jean-Claude Labrecque, The Coffin Affair (L'Affaire Coffin) Micheline Lanctôt, The Handyman (L'Homme à tout faire) Actor in a leading role Actress in a leading role Thomas Peacocke, The Hounds of Notre Dame Jocelyn Bérubé, The Handyman (L'Homme à tout faire) Lewis Furey, Fantastica Winston Rekert, Suzanne August Schellenberg, The Coffin Affair (L'Affaire Coffin) Marie Tifo, Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) Geneviève Bujold, Final Assignment Jennifer Dale, Suzanne Charlotte Laurier, Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) Andrée Pelletier, The Handyman (L'Homme à tout faire) Actor in a supporting role Actress in a supporting role Germain Houde, Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) Gabriel Arcand, Suzanne David Ferry, The Hounds of Notre Dame Robert Joy, Atlantic City, U.S.A. John Marley, Tribute Kate Reid, Atlantic City, U.S.A. Colleen Dewhurst, Tribute Gale Garnett, Tribute Frances Hyland, The Hounds of Notre Dame Micheline Lanctôt, The Coffin Affair (L'Affaire Coffin) Foreign Actor Foreign Actress Jack Lemmon, Tribute Bruce Dern, Middle Age Crazy Burt Lancaster, Atlantic City, U.S.A. Brett Marx, The Lucky Star Rod Steiger, The Lucky Star Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City, U.S.A. Ann-Margret, Middle Age Crazy Jamie Lee Curtis, Prom Night Louise Fletcher, The Lucky Star Lee Remick, Tribute Original Screenplay Adapted Screenplay Réjean Ducharme, Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) Marc Rosen, Final Assignment Jean-Claude Labrecque, Jacques Benoit, The Coffin Affair (L'Affaire Coffin) Micheline Lanctôt, The Handyman (L'Homme à tout faire) Ken Mitchell, The Hounds of Notre Dame Max Fischer and Jack Rosenthal, The Lucky Star Bernard Slade, Tribute Ronald Sutherland and Robin Spry, Suzanne Best Documentary Best Theatrical Short Guy Simoneau, Some Even Fall in Love (Plusiers tombent en amour) William Johnston, The Dream Never Dies Arthur Lamothe, A Wives' Tale (Une histoire de femmes) Halya Kuchmij, The Strongest Man in the World Roberta King and Ronald Squire, Heavy Horse Pull Michael Mills, History of the World in Three Minutes Flat Art Direction Cinematography Anne Pritchard, Atlantic City, U.S.A. Glenn Bydwell, Terror Train Anne Pritchard and Jocelyn Joly, Fantastica Michel Proulx, Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) Normand Sarazin, The Handyman (L'Homme à tout faire) Michel Brault, Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) Richard Ciupka, Atlantic City, U.S.A. Miklós Lente, Suzanne Reginald H. Morris, Phobia François Protat, Fantastica Costume Design Editing Anne Pritchard, Fantastica François Barbeau, Atlantic City, U.S.A. Louise Jobin, Suzanne Linda Matheson, Middle Age Crazy Diane Paquet, Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) André Corriveau, Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) Pierre Jalbert, Final Assignment Brian Ravok, Prom Night Tony Lower, The Hounds of Notre Dame Michael McLaverty, The Kidnapping of the President Sound Sound Editing Henri Blondeau and Michel Descombes, Good Riddance (Les bons débarras) Austin Grimaldi, Dino Pigat, David Appleby, Bo Harwood, Terror Train Larry Sutton, Paul Coombe, Mike Hoogenboom, The Hounds of Notre Dame Mike Hoogenboom, Nolan Roberts, Doug Ganton, The Kidnapping of the President Patrick Rousseau, Michel Descombes, The Lucky Star Joe Grimaldi, Austin Grimaldi, Dino Pigat, David Lee, Tribute Jean-Guy Montpetit, The Lucky Star Kenneth Heeley-Ray, Wayne Griffin and Patrick Drummond, Tribute Jim Hopkins, The Hounds of Notre Dame Bruce Nyznik, Final Assignment Best Musical Score Special Awards Art Philips, The Lucky Star Matthew McCauley, Middle Age Crazy John Mills-Cockell, Terror Train Kenneth Wannberg, TributeGolden Reel: The Changeling Special Achievement Genie: Micheline Lanctôt Outstanding Contributions to the Canadian Film Industry: Violet Crone, Robert Crone
References
External links Genie Awards 1981 on IMDb