Apparently the Genie Awards have been going for 32 years and
yet a lot of Canadians are fairly unaware of them.
The Genies have been given out annually by the Academy of
Canadian Cinema & Television since 1980.
The Genie is a gold-plated bronze sculpture by Sorel Etrog of
a bent over figure. It is 14 inches tall and weighs 14 pounds.
Sad to say many Canadians do not know that the Genies are
Canada’s equivalent of the Oscars.
Take a quick poll of your friends and you will find they are
pretty unaware of what films are Canadian productions. “A Dangerous Method” –
it’s a Canadian film?!
Many films are made in Canada. As a centre for Film
production, Ontario is no. 3 ($1.26 billion industry) in North America behind
LA and NYC. BC is no. 4. That means a lot of technical talent needed for
filmmaking and post production is right here. A quick look at the impressive
number of Oscars won by Canadians over the years shows the strength, depth and
innovation of the Canadian film industry. Canadians have been winning Oscars
since 1932.
Some Well Known Canadian Film Celebrities:
Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Casino Royale, Call
of Duty: Modern Warfare 3), David Cronenberg (King of Horror – The Dead Zone, The
Fly, Naked Lunch and History of Violence).
Don Carmody is another resident celebrity with almost 100
films to date including blockbusters – Resident Evil, Porkys and many Academy
Award productions like Chicago and Good Will Hunting and a few cult classics
like Boondock Saints. James Cameron, self-titled ‘King of the World’ is another Canuk as is Keanu Reeves of The Matrix fame. They are all just hometown boys. Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) is one of Canada's rarer comedic writer/actors.
Some Less well-known Canadians:
Philippe Falardeau (writer director “Monsieur Lazhar”, Oscar
Nominee) and
Larysa Kondracki (Director, “The Whistleblower”),
Sara Polley
(Take This Waltz),
Jean Marc Vallée (Young Victoria, Café de Flore) and
screenwriter David Shamoon (“In Darkness”, Oscar Nominee).
Canada has many
Oscar nominated Animation and documentary filmmakers. Most recently 2 Oscar nominated animated shorts, Wild Life and Dimanche (Sunday).
 |
| Rachel McAdams |
Some Veteran Red Carpet Film Celebrities:
Donald Sutherland, Christopher Plummer, Margot Kidder, Martin Short, John Candy, Michael J. Fox and William Schatner...
Finally:
Our Darlings on a growing list of young Canadian Film International Film Stars:
Our Darlings on a growing list of young Canadian Film International Film Stars:
Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling…
Check out our 32nd Genie Awards
highlights on:
