Prix Iris

For awards with similar names, see Iris Award (disambiguation).
"Prix Jutra" redirects here. Not to be confused with Claude Jutra Award.
Prix Iris
Awarded forBest films from the Canadian province of Quebec
LocationMontreal, Quebec
CountryCanada
First awarded1999
Websitegala.quebeccinema.ca

The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec.[1] Until 2016, it was known as the Jutra Award (Prix Jutra, with the ceremony called La Soirée des Jutra) in memory of influential Quebec film director Claude Jutra, but Jutra's name was withdrawn from the awards following the publication of Yves Lever's biography of Jutra, which alleged that he had sexually abused children.[2]

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

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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.[3] 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.[2] The Prix Iris name was announced in October 2016.[1]

The trophy was designed by sculptor Charles Daudelin.[4] 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;[5] unlike the 8th Canadian Screen Awards, however, the award nominations had not yet been released when the cancellation of the ceremony was announced.[6] Nominations were still released on April 22,[7] and the winners were announced via livestreaming on June 10.[8]

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.[9]

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.[10] In February 2023, Québec Cinéma indicated that it was in negotiations with other broadcasters to carry the 25th Quebec Cinema Awards;[11] as of May 2023, however, the organization had confirmed only that the ceremony would not take place in its usual June scheduling.[12] In July 2023, Québec Cinéma announced that the ceremony would be held in December 2023, and broadcast by Noovo.[13]

Ceremonies and Best Film winners

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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 [fr] 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;[14] 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 TBA Phil Roy

Most wins and nominations

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"Big Five" winners and nominees

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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.

  1. 2 Seconds (2 secondes) - 1999
  2. Tar Angel (L’ange de goudron) - 2002
  3. The Barbarian Invasions (Les invasions barbares) – 2004
  4. The Rocket (Maurice Richard) – 2006
  5. The Novena (La neuvaine) – 2006
  6. Days of Darkness (L’âge des ténèbres) – 2008
  7. I Killed My Mother (J’ai tué ma mère) – 2010
  8. Mommy – 2015
  9. Two Lovers and a Bear – 2017
  10. Family First (Chien de garde) – 2018
  11. Viking – 2023
  12. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) – 2024
  13. The Nature of Love (Simple comme Sylvain) – 2024

Categories

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Quebec film awards renamed Prix Iris after Claude Jutra sex scandal". CBC News, October 14, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Quebec Cinema will rename Jutra awards; cities renaming streets". CTV Montreal, February 17, 2016.
  3. ^ Brendan Kelly, "Two film solitudes? Producer pulls films from Genies in favour of new Jutras". Montreal Gazette, November 23, 1998.
  4. ^ Townend, Paul. "Prix Iris". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  5. ^ "Le Gala Québec Cinéma annulé à cause de la pandémie". Ici Radio-Canada, April 2, 2020.
  6. ^ André Duchesne, "Prix Iris du cinéma québécois : le vote continue". La Presse, March 19, 2020.
  7. ^ Demers, Maxime (April 23, 2020). "Prix Iris: les réalisatrices à l'honneur". Le Journal de Montréal (in French). Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  8. ^ "Le film Antigone, grand gagnant du Gala Québec Cinéma avec six prix" (in French). Radio-Canada. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  9. ^ Sarah Rahmouni, "Des appels pour que les prix Iris soient renommés Vallée". Le Devoir, December 29, 2021.
  10. ^ Hugo Dumas, "Qui pleurera la mort du gala du cinéma ?". La Presse, November 1, 2022.
  11. ^ Maxime Demers, "Le Gala Québec Cinéma «n’est pas mort»". Le Journal de Montréal, February 6, 2023.
  12. ^ Marc Cassivi, "Mieux que rien". La Presse, May 31, 2023.
  13. ^ "Noovo sera le nouveau diffuseur du Gala Québec Cinéma". Le Devoir, July 5, 2023.
  14. ^ Demers, Maxime (23 April 2020). "Prix Iris: les réalisatrices à l'honneur". Le Journal de Montréal (in French). Retrieved 3 May 2020.
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