By Canadian Press

Quebec Gémeaux screen awards to revive separate acting categories for men and women

Jan 11, 2024 | 4:40 PM

MONTREAL — Canada’s top award for French-language television is bringing back separate divisions for male and female actors one year after introducing gender-neutral categories.

The Gémeaux awards dropped gendered categories for its 2023 edition, presenting single prizes for performers in leading and supporting roles.

But in a news release Thursday, the Quebec section of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television said it decided to revive separate male and female Gémeaux awards after an “expert” review and consultations with its members and other industry stakeholders.

The Academy didn’t give details about its decision, saying that it revises its rules and categories every year in an attempt to reflect the current television and digital media landscape.

The total number of Gémeaux awards will therefore increase from 91 to 109 for its 2024 edition. 

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The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television’s other awards program, the Canadian Screen Awards, is maintaining gender-neutral categories this year after introducing them in 2023.

When it announced mixed-gender Canadian Screen Awards categories in 2022, the Academy said the measure would “better represent the country’s diverse community of talent,” including performers who may not identify as either male or female.

While the return of gendered categories at the Gémeaux awards might appear to some like a step backward for the representation of people with diverse gender identities, “there isn’t (a) one-size-fits-all answer” to inclusive awards, said Jen Viens, vice-president of the Montreal branch of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, a performers union commonly known as ACTRA.

Viens, who uses they pronouns, is also chair of ACTRA Montreal’s LGBTQ+ committee. It is “very legitimate” that some people in the entertainment industry have concerns that the abolition of gendered categories will result in the overrepresentation of male performers, who historically occupy more roles and get more screen time than women do, Viens said.

“There is a chance and a fear that you would actually have less women, less non-binary folks, less trans folks winning awards,” Viens said in an interview.

They described the debate about awards categories as a symptom of a larger issue related to a lack of stories centering on women, non-binary and trans characters and performers in the entertainment industry.

Viens said they are encouraged by the Academy’s commitment to reviewing awards rules every year.

“That is one thing that gives me hope,” Viens said. “This is another attempt at something and it’s not the end. It’s a process.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2024.

Thomas MacDonald, The Canadian Press