The Gala Québec Cinéma is a Quebec film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly feature film industry of Quebec."Quebec film awards renamed Prix Iris after Claude Jutra sex scandal". CBC News, October 14, 2016. Until 2016, it was known as La soirée des prix Jutra (The evening of the Jutra prizes) in reference of influential Quebec film director Claude Jutra, but Jutra's name was withdrawn from the awards following the publication of Yves Lever's biography of Jutra, which alleged that he had sexually abused children."Quebec Cinema will rename Jutra awards; cities renaming streets". CTV Montreal, February 17, 2016.
It should not be confused with the Claude Jutra Award, a special award presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television as part of the separate Canadian Screen Awards program which was also renamed in 2016 following the allegations against Jutra.
History Introduced in 1999, the awards are presented for Best Film and performance, writing and technical categories such as best actor, actress, director, screenplay, et cetera. Due to Quebec's majority francophone population, most films made in the province are French-language films, but English-language films made in the province are also fully eligible for nomination. The awards maintain slightly different eligibility criteria for international coproductions, however: a coproduction which surpasses the organization's criteria for "majority Québécois" involvement is treated the same as a Quebec film, with full eligibility in all categories, while a coproduction which is classified as "minority Québécois", such as the 2015 film Brooklyn, is eligible only in categories where a resident of Quebec is the nominee, and cannot be submitted for Best Film.
The initial creation of the awards sparked some concern that the idea of a separate award for Quebec films would undermine the pan-Canadian scope of the Genie Awards; Québec Cinéma clarified that it did not have, and would not impose, a rule that films could not be submitted for both awards, although at least one film producer, Roger Frappier, voluntarily declined to submit the films August 32nd on Earth (Un 32 août sur terre) and 2 Seconds (2 secondes) for Genie consideration at all on the grounds that since neither film was projected to be popular outside Quebec, they would purportedly not get any public relations or marketing benefit out of Genie nominations.Brendan Kelly, "Two film solitudes? Producer pulls films from Genies in favour of new Jutras". Montreal Gazette, November 23, 1998. Frappier has not subsequently refused to submit other films to the Genies or the Canadian Screen Awards after 1999.
Following the withdrawal of Jutra's name from the award, the 2016 awards were presented solely under the name Québec Cinéma pending an announcement of the award's new permanent name. The Prix Iris name was announced in October 2016.
The trophy was designed by sculptor Charles Daudelin. The awards replaced the prix Guy-L'Écuyer, created in 1987 by Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois in memory of actor Guy L'Écuyer.
The 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards ceremony, originally planned for June 7, 2020, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada;"Le Gala Québec Cinéma annulé à cause de la pandémie". Ici Radio-Canada, April 2, 2020. unlike the 8th Canadian Screen Awards, however, the award nominations had not yet been released when the cancellation of the ceremony was announced.André Duchesne, "Prix Iris du cinéma québécois : le vote continue". La Presse, March 19, 2020. Nominations were still released on April 22, and the winners were announced via livestreaming on June 10.
Following the death of influential Quebec filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée in December 2021, there was some public demand that Québec Cinéma rename the awards to the Prix Vallée in his honour.Sarah Rahmouni, "Des appels pour que les prix Iris soient renommés Vallée". Le Devoir, December 29, 2021.
In 2022, Radio-Canada announced that due to declining ratings in recent years, it would not televise the 2023 awards, and was instead planning alternative ways to highlight Quebec film in its programming.Hugo Dumas, "Qui pleurera la mort du gala du cinéma ?". La Presse, November 1, 2022. In February 2023, Québec Cinéma indicated that it was in negotiations with other broadcasters to carry the 25th Quebec Cinema Awards;Maxime Demers, "Le Gala Québec Cinéma «n'est pas mort»". Le Journal de Montréal, February 6, 2023. as of May 2023, however, the organization had confirmed only that the ceremony would not take place in its usual June scheduling.Marc Cassivi, "Mieux que rien". La Presse, May 31, 2023. In July 2023, Québec Cinéma announced that the ceremony would be held in December 2023, and broadcast by Noovo."Noovo sera le nouveau diffuseur du Gala Québec Cinéma". Le Devoir, July 5, 2023. The organization has since maintained the December scheduling, with an eligibility period currently extending from September of the previous year to August of the same year as the ceremony.
Ceremonies and Best Film winners Ceremony Date Best Picture Host Location Broadcaster 1st March 7, 1999 The Red Violin (Le violon rouge) Rémy Girard Théâtre Saint-Denis TVA 2nd March 5, 2000 Post Mortem Yves Jacques and Élise Guilbault Monument-National 3rd February 25, 2001 Maelström Théâtre Saint-Denis 4th February 17, 2002 Soft Shell Man (Un crabe dans la tête) Sylvie Moreau 5th February 23, 2003 Québec-Montréal Théâtre Maisonneuve Radio-Canada 6th February 22, 2004 The Barbarian Invasions (Les invasions barbares) 7th February 20, 2005 Looking for Alexander (Mémoires affectives) Patrick Huard 8th March 19, 2006 C.R.A.Z.Y. Normand Brathwaite 9th February 18, 2007 Congorama 10th March 9, 2008 Continental, a Film Without Guns (Continental, un film sans fusil) Théâtre Saint-Denis 11th March 29, 2009 The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre) Karine Vanasse 12th March 28, 2010 I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) Patrice L'Écuyer 13th March 13, 2011 Incendies Yves Pelletier and Sylvie Moreau 14th March 11, 2012 Monsieur Lazhar 15th March 17, 2013 War Witch (Rebelle) Rémy Girard Salle Pierre-Mercure 16th March 23, 2014 Louis Cyr (Louis Cyr: L'homme le plus fort du monde) Pénélope McQuade and Laurent Paquin Monument-National 17th March 15, 2015 Mommy Pénélope McQuade and Stéphane Bellavance 18th March 20, 2016 The Passion of Augustine (La passion d'Augustine) 19th June 4, 2017 It's Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde) Guylaine Tremblay and Édith Cochrane Maison Radio-Canada 20th June 3, 2018 Ravenous (Les affamés) 21st June 2, 2019 1991 22nd June 10, 2020 Antigone No ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic; winners were announced via livestreaming. 23rd June 6, 2021 Goddess of the Fireflies (La déesse des mouches à feu) Geneviève Schmidt Maison Radio-Canada 24th June 5, 2022 Drunken Birds (Les oiseaux ivres) 25th December 10, 2023 Viking Jay Du Temple Grandé Studios Noovo 26th December 8, 2024 Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Phil Roy 27th December 7, 2025 Universal Language (Une langue universelle)
Most wins and nominations
The following films received at least 10 nominations: Nominations Title 22 Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person 18 Viking 17 Drunken Birds Universal Language 16 1991 Goddess of the Fireflies Maria Chapdelaine 15 Peak Everything Two Women 14 C.R.A.Z.Y. The Rocket The 3 L'il Pigs Babysitter Red Rooms The Nature of Love 13 Seducing Doctor Lewis Bon Cop, Bad Cop And the Birds Rained Down Underground The Vinland Club The Time Thief Shepherds 12 The Barbarian Invasions A Sunday in Kigali Incendies It's Only the End of the World Two Lovers and a Bear For Those Who Don't Read Me The Dishwasher 11 The Red Violin Laurence Anyways Louis Cyr Mommy The Passion of Augustine La Bolduc A Brother's Love Ghost Town Anthology My Salinger Year Beans 1995 10 Séraphin: Heart of Stone Gaz Bar Blues Audition Through the Mist Monsieur Lazhar War Witch Gabrielle You're Sleeping Nicole Tom at the Farm Corbo Hochelaga, Land of Souls Infiltration Mafia Inc. Target Number One Richelieu Solo
The following films received at least 5 awards (including non-competitive):
Awards Title 16 C.R.A.Z.Y. 11 Viking 10 Incendies Mommy Drunken Birds 9 The Red Violin Maelström Louis Cyr 8 Monsieur Lazhar War Witch Ravenous Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Universal Language 7 Soft Shell Man The Barbarian Invasions Seducing Doctor Lewis Séraphin: Heart of Stone Goddess of the Fireflies 6 A Sunday in Kigali The Passion of Augustine La Bolduc Antigone 5 Post Mortem Bittersweet Memories Congorama Babine Polytechnique Gabrielle It's Only the End of the World Hochelaga, Land of Souls 1991
The following individuals received at least 10 nominations: Nominations Nominee 32 Bernard Gariépy Strobl 31 Xavier Dolan 27 Luc Boudrias 26 Sylvain Corbeil Nancy Grant 24 Luc Déry 23 Sylvain Bellemare Kim McCraw 18 Olivier Calvert 16 Stéphane Bergeron 15 Kathryn Casault Claude La Haye Martin Lapointe André Turpin 14 Claude Beaugrand Roger Frappier Sara Mishara Denise Robert 13 André-Line Beauparlant Denis Côté Philippe Falardeau Stéphane Lafleur Robert Morin Luc Picard Hans Peter Strobl Luc Vandal 12 Marc Bertrand Céline Bonnier Gavin Fernandes Ricardo Trogi 11 Nathalie Boutrie Monia Chokri Marie-Claude Lafontaine Denis Villeneuve 10 Robin Aubert Francesca Chamberland Sophie Deraspe Louis Gignac Nathanaël Karmitz Lyse Lafontaine Christian Larouche Ginette Magny Galilé Marion-Gauvin Kim Nguyen Denis Parent Theodore Ushev
The following individuals received at least 5 awards (including non-competitive):
Awards Nominee 15 Xavier Dolan 10 Bernard Gariépy Strobl Nancy Grant 9 Luc Déry André Turpin Denis Villeneuve 8 Kim McCraw Stéphane Lafleur 7 Sylvain Corbeil Martin Lapointe Denise Robert Jean-Marc Vallée 6 Claude Beaugrand Sylvain Bellemare Richard Comeau Hans Peter Strobl 5 Denys Arcand Louise Archambault Philippe Falardeau Claude La Haye Christian Larouche Léa Pool
"Big Five" winners and nominees To date, thirteen films were nominated for the "Big Five" categories: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. Of those, only Mommy managed to win all five awards.
2 Seconds (2 secondes) - 1999 Tar Angel (L'ange de goudron) - 2002 The Barbarian Invasions (Les invasions barbares) – 2004 The Rocket (Maurice Richard) – 2006 The Novena (La neuvaine) – 2006 Days of Darkness (L'âge des ténèbres) – 2008 I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) – 2010 Mommy – 2015 Two Lovers and a Bear – 2017 Family First (Chien de garde) – 2018 Viking – 2023 Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) – 2024 The Nature of Love (Simple comme Sylvain) – 2024
Categories
See also Cinema of Quebec List of Quebec film directors List of Quebec films Prix Albert-Tessier, lifetime achievement awards in Quebec cinema given by the Government of Quebec
References
External links