http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Art...ertainment/Film
Most people are likely unaware that this year's Genie Awards mark the 25th occasion of the annual fete honouring our homegrown film industry. Sadly, most Canadians could probably use a reminder that Canada even has a film industry -- although it's never too late to get with the program.
"Like most people, I'd seen maybe one per cent of the films that came out of Canada the past year," says Andrea Martin, host of this year's Genies broadcast. "But since then I've screened the nominated movies and I can honestly say there are some truly beautiful films in there. I'm going to come to this show prepared."
As in the past, the lion's share of nominated films at this year's Genies hail from Quebec, which has long sustained the Canadian experience on celluloid. Martin admits she was astounded by what she was missing. "Some of the films were incredible," she says. "[Best Picture nominee] Ma Vie en Cinemascope was amazing; the young boy in Love, Sex and Eating the Bones is a tremendously gifted actor. I had no idea there was so much talent out there in Canadian film. In a way the Genies are more like the Independent Spirit Awards than the Oscars."
And for the record, Martin was front and centre during the founding days of this country's film industry. Before assuming her rightful place in TV history as one of the regulars on SCTV, Martin was appearing in classic Canadian movies like Cannibal Girls (1973) and Black Christmas (1974). Back then, work was work: "I never thought of being in the film industry, or TV industry, or whatever," she says. "Frankly, it was just about getting a job. In those days I went from film to stage to television. When I was on SCTV, I didn't really pay that much attention to film; I focused more on television, because that was what we were parodying."
Although Martin served as a presenter on the Genies on a few occasions in the '80s, this is the first time she'll host the show. Going in, she was already aware the Genies are quite removed from your average American trophy fest. "Award shows are enormously popular with viewers, but usually most people are watching just to see all the celebrities and their outfits. There's more authenticity to a show like the Genies, which is both a blessing and a curse. The stars are there, of course, but what it's really about is getting people to see the films. It's all about getting the stars out there so people can see the movies and become educated about Canadian film."
Martin took a break from her current Broadway run in Fiddler on the Roof to host this week's show before a sold-out crowd at the Metro Convention Centre. "The live audience is a blessing," she says, "since I'm used to performing before 1,700 people every night on Broadway. And God knows I'm used to performing before TV cameras."
The great irony, of course, is that Martin has lent her comedic presence to several movies filmed up here in recent years. They just happen to have been big Hollywood films. "It's only in the last few years that I've been doing more films and they all seem to be filmed in Canada -- My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, New York Minutes," she says sheepishly. "Although I don't know much about the film industry in Canada, I do know all the crews."
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