Canadian award nominations announced
Orphan Black, Xavier Dolan’s latest contend for most hardware at Canadian Screen Awards
Montreal director Xavier Dolan’s Oscar contender It’s Only the End of the World and Space’s human cloning series Orphan Black are the leading nominees for this year’s Canadian Screen Awards.
Dolan’s French-language drama, about a dying writer who returns home to his estranged family, tops the film category with nine nominations.
They include best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay and best actor for French star Vincent Cassel.
It’s Only the End of the World is one of nine features being considered for a best foreign language film nomination at this year’s Academy Awards.
On the TV side, Orphan Black leads with 14 nominations, including best dramatic series, best direction and best actress for Regina native Tatiana Maslany. She is also up for a second award, for best actress in a film for The Other Half.
Other films with multiple nominations include the biopic Race, about American track star Jesse Owens. It’s up for eight trophies, including best picture and best actor for Toronto’s Stephan James.
Tied with six nominations apiece are: Bruce McDonald’s black-andwhite coming-of-age tale Weirdos; Matt Johnson’s fake moon-landing documentary Operation Avalanche; and Chloe Leriche’s Before the Streets, about an indigenous teen seeking redemption.
They’re all up for best picture, a field that also includes crime drama Bad Seeds, hockey drama Hello Destroyer, thriller Old Stone, Arctic-set Searchers and protestthemed Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves.
Best documentary nominees are Gulistan, Land of Roses, I Am the Blues, KONELINE: our land beautiful, The Prison in Twelve Landscapes and Waseskun.
Other major TV nominees include the hit CBC comedy Schitt’s Creek, about a wealthy family adjusting to a more humble life in a small town. Its 13 nominations include best comedy series and best actor in a comedy for both Eugene Levy and son Dan Levy.
Another CBC hit comedy, the Korean-Canadian shop-owner tale Kim’s Convenience, has 11 nominations for its first season.
Tied with nine nominations apiece are Bravo’s 19-2 and History’s Vikings.
The awards show, staged by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, will be broadcast live on CBC from Toronto on March 12.
Oscar-winning actor Christopher Plummer will receive a lifetime achievement award at the show. Howie Mandel will host.