Québec Cinéma presents an annual award for Best Director (French: Prix Iris de la meilleure réalisation) to recognize the best in the Cinema of Quebec.
Until 2016, it was known as the Jutra Award for Best Director in memory of influential Quebec film director Claude Jutra.[1] Following the withdrawal of Jutra's name from the award, the 2016 award was presented under the name Québec Cinéma.[1] The Prix Iris name was announced in October 2016.[2]
Xavier Dolan received the most nominations, with six, while Denis Villeneuve received the most awards, with three. Villeneuve is the only director to win two consecutive awards, for Polytechnique in 2010 and Incendies 2011, while Dolan is the only director to receive two nominations in the same year, for Mommy and Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme) in 2015.
To date, eighteen women were nominated for the award a total of twenty-two times, with Léa Pool, Anne Émond, Sophie Dupuis and Monia Chokri receiving two nominations each. The first to receive a nomination was Manon Briand at the first ceremony for 2 Seconds (2 secondes). Five women have won the award so far, the first being Lyne Charlebois in 2009 for Borderline, followed by Louise Archambault in 2014 for Gabrielle, Léa Pool in 2016 for The Passion of Augustine (La passion d'Augustine), Sophie Deraspe in 2020 for Antigone and Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette in 2021 for Goddess of the Fireflies (La déesse des moucbes à feu). Of these films, only the latter three also won the award for Best Film.
| Year | Director | Film | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 1st Jutra Awards | |||
| François Girard | The Red Violin (Le violon rouge) | [3] | |
| Manon Briand | 2 Seconds (2 secondes) | [4] | |
| Robert Lepage | Nô | ||
| Denis Villeneuve | August 32nd on Earth (Un 32 août sur terre) |
| Year | Director | Film | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards | |||
| Sophie Deraspe | Antigone | [28] | |
| Monia Chokri | A Brother's Love (La femme de mon frère) | [29] | |
| Guillaume de Fontenay | Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable) | ||
| Matthew Rankin | The Twentieth Century | ||
| Myriam Verreault | Kuessipan | ||
| 2021 23rd Quebec Cinema Awards | |||
| Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette | Goddess of the Fireflies (La déesse des mouches à feu) | [30] | |
| Sophie Dupuis | Underground (Souterrain) | [31] | |
| Philippe Falardeau | My Salinger Year | ||
| Benoît Pilon | The Vinland Club (Le club Vinland) | ||
| Daniel Roby | Target Number One | ||
| 2022 24th Quebec Cinema Awards | |||
| Ivan Grbovic | Drunken Birds (Les oiseaux ivres) | [32] | |
| Tracey Deer | Beans | [33] | |
| Maxime Giroux | Norbourg | ||
| Kaveh Nabatian | Without Havana (Sin la Habana) | ||
| Sébastien Pilote | Maria Chapdelaine | ||
| 2023 25th Quebec Cinema Awards | |||
| Stéphane Lafleur | Viking | [34] | |
| Monia Chokri | Babysitter | [35] | |
| Francis Leclerc | The Dishwasher (Le Plongeur) | ||
| Rafaël Ouellet | Family Game (Arseneault et fils) | ||
| Pascal Plante | Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) |
| Wins | Director |
|---|---|
| 3 | Denis Villeneuve |
| 2 | Xavier Dolan |
| Philippe Falardeau | |
| Stéphane Lafleur | |
| Ricardo Trogi | |
| Nominations | Director |
|---|---|
| 6 | Xavier Dolan |
| 5 | Denis Villeneuve |
| 4 | Philippe Falardeau |
| Robert Morin | |
| Kim Nguyen | |
| Ricardo Trogi | |
| 3 | Louis Bélanger |
| Denis Côté | |
| Bernard Émond | |
| Maxime Giroux | |
| Stéphane Lafleur | |