Prix Iris Announces 2023 Winners
by Ralph Lucas – Publisher
(December 12, 2023 – Toronto, ON) The 25th edition of the Gala Québec Cinéma was held on Sunday night and broadcast on Noovo and noovo.ca live from the Grandé Studios in Montréal. Produced by Sphère Média, in collaboration with Bell Media and Québec Cinéma, the Gala celebrated local films and talent by handing out 12 IRIS awards,
Viking, co-written and directed by Stéphane Lafleur, had its World Premiere at TIFF in September of 2022 and was recognized with 4 Prix Iris including Best Film for producers Luc Déry and Kim McCraw at micro_scope, Best Director, Best Screenplay for Lafleur and Eric K. Boulianne and Steve Laplante for Best Actor. It had received a total of 18 nominations as we reported last month.
Best Actor in a Supporting role was given to Charles-Aubey Houde for his role as Bébert in the feature Le plongeur (The Diver). Best Actress went to Kelly Depeault for her work in Naomi dit oui (Nomei says yes). The Best Actress in a Supporting role went to Laurie Babin in Les chambres rouges, and the Discovery of the Year was given to Juliette Gariépy as Kelly-Anne in Les chambres rouge (Red Rooms).
Many will be pleased with Charlotte Le Bon’s win with Falcon Lake for Best Debut Film. In reviewing the film for Northernstars™, Thom Ernst wrote, in part, “It’s all so pervasively seductive that by the film’s end we are left feeling that Falcon Lake is not just a story told, but a story unveiled.” It had previously been awarded the John Dunning Best First Feature Film Award at the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards.
Best Documentary went to Dear Audrey, written and directed by Jeremiah Hayes and produced for the National Fulm Board by Jeremiah Hayes, André Barro and Annette Clarke.
Finally, Rémy Girard was honoured with a special award of recognition, what English Canada would call a Tribute Award. And the very first Michel Côté Award was given to producer Patrick Roy of Immina Films for Les hommes de ma mère (My Mother’s Men). It was directed by Anik Jean and written by Maryse Latendresse.
One of the big surprises for me was Monia Chokri’s Babysitter, which received 14 nominations in November including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay, but walked away empty-handed on Sunday.
The following was copied from the media release from Québec Cinéma:
IRIS HOMMAGE Rémy Girard
MEILLEUR FILM
Viking | micro_scope — Luc Déry, Kim McCraw
MEILLEUR PREMIER FILM Falcon Lake | Charlotte Le Bon
MEILLEURE RÉALISATION Stéphane Lafleur | Viking
MEILLEUR SCÉNARIO
Stéphane Lafleur, Eric K. Boulianne | Viking
MEILLEURE INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE | PREMIER RÔLE Kelly Depeault (Noémie) | Noémie dit oui
MEILLEURE INTERPRÉTATION MASCULINE | PREMIER RÔLE Steve Laplante (John) | Viking
MEILLEURE INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE | RÔLE DE SOUTIEN Laurie Babin (Clémentine) | Les chambres rouges
MEILLEURE INTERPRÉTATION MASCULINE | RÔLE DE SOUTIEN Charles-Aubey Houde (Bébert) | Le plongeur
RÉVÉLATION DE L’ANNÉE Juliette Gariépy (Kelly-Anne) | Les chambres rouges
MEILLEUR FILM DOCUMENTAIRE
Dear Audrey | Réalisation : Jeremiah Hayes | Scénario : Jeremiah Hayes | Office national du film du Canada — Jeremiah Hayes, André Barro, Annette Clarke
PRIX MICHEL-CÔTÉ
Les hommes de ma mère | Immina Films — Patrick Roy | Jessie Films — Patrick Huard, Anik Jean | Réalisation : Anik Jean | Scénario : Maryse Latendresse.
Ralph Lucas is a former broadcast executive and award-winning director in high-end corporate video production. The founder and publisher of Northernstars.ca, online since 1998, he began writing about film and reviewing movies while in radio in Montreal in the mid-1970s.
