Major surprises at the 38th Gémeaux awards. While nothing predicted their triumph, the series Before the Crash and Indefensible won top honors on Sunday evening.
Indefensible was crowned best daily series in front of STAT. And yet, Radio-Canada’s medical saga had dominated each of the categories that pitted it against TVA’s legal soap opera: best text (Marie-Andrée Labbé), best leading role (Suzanne Clément), best supporting role (Geneviève Schmidt) and best direction (Danièle Méthot).
At the microphone, after picking up her trophy at the start of the ceremony, Suzanne Clément congratulated the headliner of the opposing camp. “Well done, Sébastien Delorme. I know what you’re going through. »
Once on stage, Izabel Chevrier, from Pixcom productions, the company behind Indefensible, returned the favor to the opposing camp.
The section reserved for dramatic series also had a similar twist in store for the spectators gathered at the Théâtre Maisonneuve. After losing all the golden statuettes it had the chance to collect, the financial thriller Avant le crash, broadcast on ICI Télé, won the ultimate award: best drama series. The offering from authors Éric Bruneau and Kim Lévesque-Lizotte, which offers an immersion into the world of investment bankers, beat out The night Laurier Gaudreault woke up, which won in several categories, including best production (Xavier Dolan).
Elsewhere in fiction, Alerts was named best annual drama series. The announcement startled Sophie Prégent, who co-stars in the TVA police drama with Frédéric Pierre and Mylène Saint-Sauveur.
In terms of comedies, Complètement lycée has supplanted The Guys, The Eye of the Storm, About Antoine and L’air d’aller. The Noovo series, which pastiches American soap operas for teenagers, completed its hat trick, after winning the prizes for best direction and best text.
Another victory recorded for Noovo: that of author Simon Boulerice for Chouchou (best text – dramatic series).
The comedy Discussions with my parents, which was not entered in the gala this year, won the audience prize. In the spotlight, François Morency pointed out that this was the first Gémeaux won by his series, after six years of disappointment. The comedian thanked the viewers, who continue to flock in large numbers on Mondays. “You are the one and final jury. Never forget it. »
As the Academy had abandoned male-female divisions in favor of gender-neutral categories, actors and actresses competed within the same group on Sunday. Those who feared that such a change would favor the male sex can breathe easy: the actresses won five of the six acting awards presented at the evening gala.
Christine Beaulieu won ahead of – among others – Fabien Cloutier (Léo), Claude Legault (About Antoine) and Catherine-Anne Toupin (Moi non plus!) to win the prize for best leading role – comedy for L’ eye of the storm.
With emotion, Patrick Hivon thanked Xavier Dolan. “You’ve been like a brother to me. You are full of love, and I hope you will accept it from everyone. »
As for supporting roles, in addition to Geneviève Schmidt (STAT), the Academy praised the work of Frédéric Millaire Zouvi (5e Rang – annual drama series), Micheline Bernard (About Antoine – comedy) and Anne Dorval (Laurier Gaudreault – drama series). Visibly touched, the latter also spoke directly to Dolan. “Every time I’m on the brink, you bring me back to life a little. »
In youth, the second season of Lou et Sophie dominated, while host Mathieu Pichette stood out for Bizarroscope, a UnisTV show.
Elsewhere in animation, the prizes were distributed among France Beaudoin for En direct de l’univers (variety), Jean-Philippe Dion for La vérité nature (interviews or talk show) and Katherine Levac for Les Olivier (humor).
A few personalities took advantage of Gemini to send messages. In the evening, Sunday, Charles Lafortune, who produces Indéfendable and Alertes, recalled that the Quebec television industry was experiencing “tumultuous times”.
“We’re partying tonight, but I feel like we’re a bit like the orchestra on the Titanic. We have to listen, we have to watch our TV. We need to talk about it, we need to spread it. Because it would be really boring to have Little House on the Prairie at 8 p.m. at night,” he pointed out.
President of Sovimage, the production house behind Before the Crash, Sophie Deschênes echoed the speeches of Charles Lafortune by deploring the underfinancing of our television industry, which is “sinking”.
At the Opening Gala, broadcast in the afternoon on ICI ARTV, Florence Longpré also overflowed with the usual thanks after accepting the trophy for the show having the most success abroad for Audrey returned, which she wrote with Guillaume Lambert. With her usual humor, the actress and author warned the audience that she was going to “make a Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge [of herself], but for a much less confused cause”: that of Mères au front, a collective that wants to break inaction in the face of climate change. The winner notably decried “the alarming situation in Rouyn-Noranda”, where the Horne Foundry is the subject of numerous controversies concerning its arsenic emissions into the air.
“It’s time to listen to the scientists and activate the political levers,” she said. Our elected officials must assume their most important responsibility: protecting health. »
Also in the afternoon, the Grand Prix de l’Académie was awarded to Mégantic and Pour toi Flora, two fictions which related, respectively, real tragedies: the 2013 railway drama and the horror of residential schools for Indigenous people. The host of the Opening Gala, Nicolas Ouellet, described these productions as “important duties of memory which should mark our television”.
La Presse had its moment of glory at the Gémeaux Awards Opening Gala. The front page of Télé-Québec, which paints a behind-the-scenes portrait of investigative journalism by following Montreal daily journalists, was crowned best observational documentary series. Journalist Katia Gagnon, senior director of information Jean-François Bégin and deputy editor and vice-president of information François Cardinal were notably thanked at the microphone.
