Cronenberg thriller, Dallaire drama vie for Genie Awards

Mafia thriller Eastern Promises and Shake Hands With the Devil, a dramatic adaptation of retired Canadian general Romo Dallaire's experiences in Rwanda, lead a strong group of nominees for Canada's top film honour.

Organizers announced Monday the contenders for the 28th annual Genie Awards, organized each year by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises and Shake Hands With the Devil, directed by Roger Spottiswoode, tied with 12 Genie nods each, including for the coveted best motion picture trophy.

Also nominated for that top honour are L'ge des tnbres (Days of Darkness), Away From Her and Continental, un film sans fusil.

Cronenberg and Spottiswoode will also face off for the achievement in direction Genie against Quebec superstar Denys Arcand (L'ge des tnbres), Sarah Polley (Away From Her) and Bruce McDonald (The Tracey Fragments).

British acting icon Julie Christie, who on Sunday night won best lead actress at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles for her turn in Away From Her, is up for the same honour at the Genies.

Ellen Page is also a nominee for her starring role in The Tracey Fragments. Rounding out the category are Molly Parker (Who Loves the Sun), Anne-Marie Cadieux (Toi) and Batrice Picard (Ma tante Aline).

Vying for the best lead actor Genie are Roy Dupuis (Shake Hands With the Devil), Marc LaBrche, (L'ge des tnbres), Claude Legault (Les 3 P'tits Cochons), Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises) and Gordon Pinsent (Away From Her).

Sarah Polley, who last week scored an Oscar nomination for Away From Her, her adaptation of Alice Munro's short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain, also scored aGenienomination in the adapted screenplay category.

Her competition includes Michael Donovan's Shake Hands With the Devil and Maureen Medved's The Tracey Fragments.

Arcand and Vancouver writer Douglas Coupland are among the best original screenplay contenders (for L'ge des tnbres and Everything's Gone Green, respectively). Also nominated are Steve Knight for Eastern Promises; Pierre Lamothe and Claude Lalonde for Les 3 P'tits Cochons; and Marc-Andr Lavoie, Simon Olivier Fecteau and David Gauthier for Bluff.

Three films will compete for the best documentary Genie: Panache (Antlers), Radiant City and Sharkwater.

With several awards already under its belt, Madame Tutli-Putli is nominated for a best animated short Genie, along with the productions Jeu and Here and There.

Other nominees include:

• SUPPORTING ACTOR: Danny Glover, Poor Boy's Game; Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Les 3 P'tits Cochons; Armin Mueller-Stahl, Eastern Promises; Michel Ange Nzojibwami, Shake Hands With the Devil; Gilbert Sicotte, Continental, un film sans fusil.
  
• SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Marie-Ginette Guay, Continental, un film sans fusil; Veronique Le Flaguais, Comment survivre sa mre; Laurence LeBoeuf, Ma fille mon ange; Fanny Mallette, Continental, un film sans fusil; Kristen Thompson, Away From Her.
  
• ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN: Andre Line Beauparlant, Continental, un film sans fusil; Lindsey Hermer-Bell, Justin S.B. Craig, Shake Hands With the Devil; Rob Gray, James Willcock, Fido; Francois Seguin, Silk; Carol Spier, Eastern Promises.
  
• COSTUME DESIGN: Dolly Ahluwallia, Partition; Denise Cronenberg, Eastern Promises; Carlo Poggioli, Kazuko Kurosawa, Silk; Mary E. McLeod, Fido; Joyce Schure, Shake Hands With the Devil.
  
• CINEMATOGRAPHY: Miroslaw Baszak, Shake Hands With the Devil; Bruce Chun, Nitro; Alain Dostie, Silk; Vic Sarin, Partition; Peter Suschitzky, Eastern Promises.
  
• ORIGINAL SCORE: David Hirschfelder, Shake Hands With the Devil; Steve London, That Beautiful Somewhere; Don MacDonald, Fido; Ryuichi Sakamoto, Silk; Howard Shore, Eastern Promises.
  
• ORIGINAL SONG: Alan Doyle, Young Triffie's Been Made Away With (from Young
  Triffie's Been Made Away With ); Valanga Khoza, David Hirschfelder, Kaya, (from Shake Hands With the Devil ); Byron Wong, Luke Nicholson, Breathe (from Poor Boy's Game ).
  

The Genie Awards will be presented in Toronto on March 3.