Stat distinguished itself at the 38th Gémeaux Awards gala on Sunday evening by adding no fewer than three trophies to its collection, for a total of four statuettes. Xavier Dolan’s miniseries The Night Laurier Gaudreault Awoke continued its success, winning six trophies, including two acting awards given to Anne Dorval and Patrick Hivon.
Pierre-Yves Lord, who succeeded Véronique Cloutier as host of the Gémeaux Awards queen ceremony this year, was the conductor of a gala that was more friendly than mocking. The evening, organized like clockwork, featured several major performances, including an opening number where the Y’a du monde à messe choir shared the stage with several other musical ensembles.
Even before the evening began at the Théâtre Maisonneuve, the time had come: Bye bye 2022 had already been announced as the big winner of the Quebec TV event. During the Industry Gala (Thursday) and the Opening Gala (Sunday afternoon), where the vast majority of the Gémeaux awards are presented, the production won eight trophies.
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The opening number of the 2023 Gemini Awards Gala.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Nevertheless, the ceremony on Sunday evening was full of emotions. Earlier in the evening, Anne Dorval moved the crowd as she accepted the award for best supporting actor in a drama series, a category in which The Night Laurier Gaudreault Awoke director Xavier Dolan was also nominated.
“I hate watching myself age on screen,” said the one who plays Madeleine Larouche, the show’s matriarch. This is for you, Xavier [Dolan]. In the first episode of The Night Laurier Gaudreault Awoke, you aged me 20 years and let me die. But in the same episode you revived me.
“Every time I’m on the edge of the abyss, I have the impression that you revive me a little,” added Xavier Dolan’s long-time accomplice.
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Anne Dorval accepts her award on stage on Sunday evening.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Eric Myre
The adaptation of Michel Marc Bouchard’s play won a sixth prize thanks to the performance of Patrick Hivon – who also had words of love for Xavier Dolan – but was beaten in the best drama series category by the financial thriller “Before the Crash”.
Stat and Suzanne Clément stand out
The daily duel was won by the legal drama “Indefensible” in the “Best Daytime Series” category. However, the TVA show, which came first at the Gémeaux Awards with a whopping 14 nominations, has to settle for this trophy this year.
Stat, ICI Télé’s daily newspaper, won three trophies on Sunday evening, including Best Lead Actor (Suzanne Clément), Best Supporting Actor (Geneviève Schmidt) and Best Writing for a Daily Drama Series. She had already won the award for the best performance in this category at the opening gala on Sunday afternoon.
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Geneviève Schmidt won a Gemini Award for her role as a general surgeon in “Stat.”
Photo: Radio-Canada / Eric Myre
Aside from the aforementioned, only one other series has surpassed Stat in terms of statuette count: Lou and Sophie, which won five trophies at the first two Gémeaux Awards galas.
Lou et Sophie achieved a hat trick on Sunday, winning a prize for best text, best direction and best program in its category (youth).
The satire by Rosalie Vaillancourt and Pierre-Yves Roy Desmarais Complètement Lycée faced the same challenge in the Comedy and Dramatic Comedy categories respectively. The same applies to the adaptation of Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s novel “I want someone to erase me” (series for digital media) and Pierre-Yves Lord’s youth quiz game “100 Geniuses” (game).
The audience award for “Discussion with my parents”.
François Morency visibly touched the audience with his show “Discussion with my parents”, in which he stages the colorful exchange with his parents and those around them. The series was selected by Internet users for the Cogeco Fund Public Prize.
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François Morency thanked the public as he accepted his Gémeaux Prize on Sunday evening.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Eric Myre
The police drama “Alerts,” in turn, achieved a double in the categories “Best Series” and “Best Texts for an Annual Drama Series,” ahead of Land Intrigue in fifth place.
Also in the annual drama series category, Catherine Trudeau won the best actress trophy for her character Catherine Thomas in “Perfect Moments.”
Simon Boulerice Chouchou’s novel, cited six times, ultimately won only one trophy. The prolific author won in the category “Best Text for a Dramatic Series”.
At the animation awards, Katherine Levac stood out in the humor category for the recent Gala les Olivier, Jean-Philippe Dion in the interview or talk show category for La vérité nature, France Beaudoin in the variety category for Live from the Universe, and Mathieu Pichette in the Youth category for Bizarroscope.
In total, no fewer than 96 Gémeaux Awards were presented at the three galas of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (Quebec Section). Seventeen awards were presented during the main ceremony on Sunday evening.