Polytechnique, Denis Villeneuve's big-screen take on the 1989 Montreal massacre, has nabbed a leading 11 Genie nominations.
The awards celebrate the best in Canadian film; the nominations were announced in Toronto this morning.
Nurse. Fighter. Boy, director Charles Officer's urban tale of a single mother and her son, landed 10 nominations while the Inuit survival story Before Tomorrow - from co-directors Marie-Helene Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu - snagged nine.
The Quebec film Grande Ourse: La Clé des possibles ("The Master Key") received eight nominations, and Fifty Dead Men Walking - Kari Skogland's look at a security agent who infiltrated the Irish Republican Army - got seven.
"This year's nominations reflect a national cinema that is courageous in its storytelling," said Sara Morton, CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. "They are films created from the wealth of cultures, communities and historical moments that make up the Canadian identity."
Last year, the academy took the Genies on the road and handed out the prizes in Ottawa. This year's show, to be held April 12, will return to Toronto.
Villeneuve faced intense public apprehension and scrutiny when he originally announced his attention to film the story of the shooting rampage at École Polytechnique on Dec. 6, 1989.
But he has been widely lauded for his handling of such difficult subject matter. In January, Polytechnique was named best Canadian feature of 2009 by the Toronto Film Critics Association.
The film's Genie nominations include best picture, best director for Villeneuve, and acting nods for Karine Vanasse and Maxim Gaudette.
Made for $6 million, Polytechnique was shot in English and in French.
Surprisingly, J'ai tué ma mere ("I Killed My Mother"), from phenom director Xavier Dolan, was largely shut out of the Genies. The film was Canada's official Oscar entry this year.
The academy will, however, give Dolan the Claude Jutra Award, presented to a first-time filmmaker.