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Night Zoo
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Wikipedia article
'Night Zoo' is a 1987 Canadian film. It is directed and written by Jean-Claude Lauzon. It made its debut at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
It was also the most successful film in the history of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's film awards program, winning a record 13 Genie Awards in every single category where it was nominated."It was Un Zoo's night; Quebec film wins record 13 Genies". 'Montreal Gazette', March 23, 1988. The film garnered 14 nominations overall;"Night Zoo thriller sets Genie record; Lauzon film wins 14 nominations". 'Ottawa Citizen', February 17, 1988. the film's only nomination that failed to translate into a win was Gilles Maheu's nod for Best Actor, as he lost to the film's other Best Actor nominee, Roger Lebel.
Plot
Marcel (Gilles Maheu) is released from prison, hoping to reconcile with his dying father, Albert (Lebel). Marcel is also harassed by a corrupt gay cop. Marcel returns to his father who reveals that he has money and drugs stashed away for him. Marcel and his gay former cellmate both corner the corrupt cop and get their revenge on him. Julie (Adams) is Marcel's former girlfriend who works in a sex club peep show.
Awards
The film set a record by winning 13 Genie Awards.
* Genie Award for Best Motion Picture - Roger Frappier, Pierre Gendron
* Genie Award for Best Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design - Jean-Baptiste Tard
* Genie Award for Best Achievement in Cinematography - Guy Dufaux
* Genie Award for Best Achievement in Costume Design - Andre Morin
* Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction - Jean-Claude Lauzon
* Genie Award for Best Achievement in Editing - Michel Arcand
* Genie Award for Best Achievement in Overall Sound - Adrian Croll, Hans Peter Strobl, Yvon Benot
* Genie Award for Best Achievement in Sound Editing - Viateur Paiement, Marcel Pothier, Diane Boucher
* Genie Award for Best Achievement in Music - Original Score - Jean Corriveau
* Genie Award for Best Achievement in Music - Original Song - Jean-Pierre Bonin, Daniel DeShaime, Jean Corriveau, Robert Stanley For the song "Lost in a Hurricane"
* Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Roger Lebel
* Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Germain Houde
* Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay - Jean-Claude Lauzon
* Montreal World Film Festival Best Canadian Film - Jean-Claude Lauzon
* Toronto International Film Festival International Critics' Award - Jean-Claude Lauzon
* Flanders International Film Festival Grand Prix - Jean-Claude Lauzon
Nominations
* Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Gilles Maheu
Availability
The film was released on videocassette in the United States in 1988 by New World and in Canada that same year by Cinema Plus Video. In 1991, an EP-Mode tape of the film was released by Starmaker Video. After Lauzon was killed in the northern Quebec plane crash in 1997, CBC Television, Tl-Qubec and Showcase aired 'Night Zoo' and 'Lolo' in August.Playback Staff, "[http://playbackonline.ca/1997/08/25/18631-19970825/ Industry mourns Lauzon, Tougas]," 'Playback', 25 August 1997, URL accessed 26 August 2016. To this day, 'Night Zoo' has never been released on DVD and as of June 28, 2011, no plans have been made to release the film onto DVD. It was digitized and restored in May 2013 by lphant and is available for online rental on the iTunes Store.
See also
* List of submissions to the 60th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
* List of Canadian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
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