1 February 2008 - 10:27“TUTLI-PUTLI” NOMINATED FOR GENIE

Nominated a week ago for an Academy Award, the National Film Board of Canada cartoon Madame Tutli-Putli is one of three candidates announced Monday for the Genie Award for best animated short.

The winner of two awards at Cannes, the wordless Madame Tutli-Putli is the first film from Montreal filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski.

Also nominated for a Genie in the category are two other NFB releases: Diane Obamsawin’s Here And There and George Schwizgebel’s wordless Jeu — a co-production with Switzerland’s Studio GDS and Télévision Suisse Romande.

The Genie Awards are organized each year by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Canada’s top film honors, they’re the Canadian equivalent of the Oscars.

The 28th annual Genie Awards will be presented March 3 in Toronto.

Leading the Genie nominations with 12 each are David Cronenberg’s Mafia thriller Eastern Promises and Shake Hands With the Devil, a dramatic adaptation of retired Canadian general Roméo Dallaire’s experiences in Rwanda.

Eastern Promises stars Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. Shake Hands With the Devil stars Quebec actor Roy Dupuis. Both films have been nominated for best motion picture.