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. 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but Jutra's name was withdrawn from the awards following the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. 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.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. 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. The Prix Iris name was
announced in October 2016.
Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly
francophone feature film industry in Quebec. 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. 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.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. 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. The Prix Iris name was
announced in October 2016.
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