1st Genie Awards

The first Genie Awards, as they were now known, were given out at a gala event at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto with actor Bruno Gerussi as host. The show was broadcast live on CBC Television and was noted for its Oscars-like production design, with production numbers including a jazz dance performance by Jeff Hyslop and Karen Kain set to the tune of "Dancing in the Dark", and female impersonator Craig Russell in character as Judy Garland. On March 19, cartoonist Ben Wicks hosted a luncheon for the 105 entrants in the non-feature categories. Also this year, on November 6, and under the administration of the academy, the Canadian Film Editors Guild, the Canadian Society of Cinematographers and the Canadian Film Sound Society hosted the 1980 Film Craft Awards. ==Controversies==

The event was not without controversy. Despite having duly released three nominations in the category of Editing in a Dramatic Film (Non-Feature), the jury used the moment of presentation to announce that they had deemed none worthy of an award. Producer Sam Levene, in his acceptance speech for another award, called the decision an "arrogant slap in the face" to the nominees. The fact that no French language films won any major awards was an issue. Award winner Christopher Plummer used his speech to criticize the distinction made between Canadian and foreign actors, calling on the academy to treat "Canadian or Samothracian" actors equally. The Foreign Actors categories were dropped in 1984. ==Award winners and nominees==

Films Feature film craft awards Non-feature craft awards ==References==