Category of Canadian Screen Awards | ||
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The Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature, formerly the Claude Jutra Award, is a special Canadian film award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the year's best feature film by a first-time film director.
The award was previously named in memory of Claude Jutra, an influential Canadian film director who died in 1986. Formerly part of the Genie Awards ceremonies, the Claude Jutra Award was transitioned to be part of the Canadian Screen Awards. Following the February 2016 publication of Yves Lever's biography of Jutra, containing allegations that Jutra had sexually abused underage children during his lifetime, the Academy announced that it was renaming the award to its current name. Québec Cinéma also removed Jutra's name from its Prix Jutra ceremonies on the same day.
The award is a juried prize whose winner is announced in advance, although the prize is formally presented to the winner at the ceremony. To date three films, The Confessional (Le Confessionnal), Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner and Away from Her, have won both the award and the Best Picture Genie in the same year; all three films' directors also won the award for Best Director for the same films.