By Rick Mele

The Oscars may be over, but that doesn't mean awards season is finished -- at least not in Canada, where the 32nd Annual Genie Awards were held in Toronto Thursday night. Honoring the best in Canadian cinema, the hour-long telecast went off mostly without a hitch.

Not bad considering co-host Andrea Martin backed out of her emcee duties a mere 24 hours earlier. Viggo Mortensen brought a little Hollywood star power to the evening as David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" won five Genies, but otherwise, it was Quebec's night at the Westin Harbour Castle. Because while Philippe Falardeau's "Monsieur Lazhar" may have gone home empty-handed at the Oscars in February, Falardeau had his arms full Thursday night, winning a total of six trophies, including Best Picture.

Monsieur Lazhar's "Revenge"
After getting shut out as Canada's official submission at the Academy Awards, writer/director Philippe Falardeau got his chance to thank the Academy after all -- though, in this case, it was the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. The Montreal-based story of an Algerian immigrant substitute teacher hired to replace an elementary school teacher who committed suicide was the night's big winner, collecting on six of its nine nominations. The film's young star Sophie Nélisse charmed both the auditorium audience and the press room after winning Best Supporting Actress for her role as one of the students, but it was producer Kim McCraw who best summed up the evening, saying, "It's the revenge of the Oscar" in reference to the near sweep by "Monsieur Lazhar."

Falardeau, who also won Achievement in Direction along with Best Adapted Screenplay, admitted to being surprised by all the honours, saying he "didn't think we'd win that many." Ever the gracious winner, he encouraged Canadian audiences to go see this year's nominees, "not because they're Canadian films, but because they're good films." Translation: who needs the Oscars?

Strombo Flies Solo
Meanwhile, the Genies got their very own taste of an Oscar-style hosting controversy when SCTV star Andrea Martin dropped out of co-hosting the show Wednesday afternoon. And since Billy Crystal wasn't available, that left George Stroumboulopoulos alone as the evening's emcee, a job he handled admirably considering he had all of a day to prepare, keeping the evening on schedule and on time -- the mark of any good awards host. The last-minute cancellation was apparently so Martin could shoot a sitcom pilot for CBS, something Stroumboulopoulos (and Martin) poked fun at during a pre-recorded opening bit and throughout the telecast. Still, it was an uncomfortable reminder that for all the evening's pomp and circumstance, the celebratory gala could still be outranked by an American TV pilot. Next year, we're betting the Genies follow "SNL"'s lead with Lindsay Lohan and have a back-up host ready to go just in case.

Viggo Shows His True Colours
But during a night of metaphoric flag-waving, Viggo Mortensen stole the show by breaking out an actual flag during his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor for "A Dangerous Method." The die-hard Habs fan dedicated the award to his favourite team as he wrapped his newfound trophy in a Montreal Canadiens flag, all while the orchestra tried to play him off -- though maybe the conductor was a Leafs fan.

Backstage, Mortensen credited David Cronenberg for his success, saying his frequent collaborator was "the only director who could've looked at me and said you can play Sigmund Freud." He also lamented the iconic director's relative lack of awards recognition outside of Canada, referring to the fact that "he makes something that's very difficult look easy."

A Year in 60 Minutes
That said, the evening wasn't without a few head-scratching moments. Like the blink-and-you-missed-it announcement of the Best Actor and Actress winners (Fellag for "Monsieur Lazhar" and Vanessa Paradis for "Café de Flore") -- which for some reason were revealed before the accompanying highlight montage. The short and sweet telecast lasted only an hour, as all but the six major awards (the four acting categories, Best Director and Best Picture) were handed out during a pre-show ceremony.

Instead, the leftover airtime was dedicated to bizarre figure skating numbers set to the five Original Song nominees, courtesy of a few of Canada's Olympians. Because, after all, what movie awards show would be complete without a little interpretive figure skating?

Other notable honours went to "Starbuck," which won the Cineplex Golden Reel Award as Canada's top grossing film, and Anne Émond, who won the Claude Jutra Award for her film "Nuit #1." Established in 1993, the award honours outstanding achievement by a first-time feature filmmaker.

Full List of Winners

BEST MOTION PICTURE / MEILLEUR FILM
MONSIEUR LAZHAR - Luc Déry, Kim McCraw

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN / MEILLEURE DIRECTION ARTISTIQUE
JAMES MCATEER - A Dangerous Method

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY / MEILLEURES IMAGES
JEAN-FRANÇOIS LORD - Snow & Ashes

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN / MEILLEURS COSTUMES
MARIE-CHANTALE VAILLANCOURT - Funkytown

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION / MEILLEURE RÉALISATION
PHILIPPE FALARDEAU - Monsieur Lazhar

ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING / MEILLEUR MONTAGE
STÉPHANE LAFLEUR - Monsieur Lazhar

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP / MEILLEURS MAQUILLAGES
CHRISTIANE FATTORI, FRÉDÉRIC MARIN - Café de Flore

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE / MEILLEURE MUSIQUE ORIGINALE
HOWARD SHORE - A Dangerous Method

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG / MEILLEURE CHANSON ORIGINALE
CAROLE FACAL - Starbuck - Quelque part

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION MASCULINE DANS UN PREMIER RÔLE
FELLAG - Monsieur Lazhar

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION MASCULINE DANS UN RÔLE DE SOUTIEN
VIGGO MORTENSEN - A Dangerous Method

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE DANS UN PREMIER RÔLE
VANESSA PARADIS - Café de Flore

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE DANS UN RÔLE DE SOUTIEN
SOPHIE NÉLISSE - Monsieur Lazhar

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY / MEILLEUR SCÉNARIO
KEN SCOTT, MARTIN PETIT - Starbuck

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY / MEILLEURE ADAPTATION
PHILIPPE FALARDEAU - Monsieur Lazhar

ACHIEVEMENT IN OVERALL SOUND / MEILLEUR SON D'ENSEMBLE
OREST SUSHKO, CHRISTIAN COOKE, JACK HEEREN, REINHARD STERGAR, DON WHITE -
A Dangerous Method

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING / MEILLEUR MONTAGE SONORE
WAYNE GRIFFIN, ROB BERTOLA, TONY CURRIE, ALASTAIR GRAY, ANDY MALCOLM, MICHAEL O'FARRELL - A Dangerous Method

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS / MEILLEURS EFFETS VISUELS
MARC CÔTÉ, STÉPHANIE BROUSSAUD, GARY CHUNTZ, VINCENT DUDOUET, CYNTHIA MOUROU, ERIC NORMANDIN, MARTIN PENSA, LUC SANFAÇON, SYLVAIN THÉROUX, NATHALIE TREMBLAY - Café de Flore

TED ROGERS AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY / Le prix Ted Rogers pour le meilleur long métrage documentaire
LA NUIT, ELLES DANSENT / AT NIGHT, THEY DANCE - Lucie Lambert, Isabelle Lavigne, Stéphane Thibault

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY / MEILLEUR COURT MÉTRAGE DOCUMENTAIRE
SIRMILIK - Zacharias Kunuk, Joel McConvey, Kristina McLaughlin, Kevin McMahon, Michael McMahon, Geoff Morrison, Ryan J. Noth

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT DRAMA / MEILLEUR COURT MÉTRAGE DRAMATIQUE
DOUBLES WITH SLIGHT PEPPER - Ian Harnarine, Ryan Silbert

BEST ANIMATED SHORT / MEILLEUR COURT MÉTRAGE D'ANIMATION
ROMANCE - Georges Schwizgebel, René Chénier, Marc Bertrand

SPECIAL AWARDS

CLAUDE JUTRA AWARD / PRIX CLAUDE-JUTRA
Anne Émond - Nuit #1

CINEPLEX GOLDEN REEL AWARD / Prix de la Bobine d'Or Cineplex
STARBUCK - Producer: André Rouleau (Distributed by Les Films Christal in partnership with Entertainment One).