1st Genie Awards

The 1st Genie Awards were presented on March 20, 1980, and honoured films released in 1979.

Immediately after the 1978 Canadian Film Awards, which were nearly cancelled due to disputes and controversy, industry leaders met to design a new awards organization based on the academy system of industry nomination and secret ballot. Members of the Canadian Film Awards committee were skeptical about nominator qualifications, and about the motivations of those who wanted the academy system, fearing that they would imitate the American model and that big-budget commercial films would swamp Canadian films.

After a year of discussion, it was agreed that 14 members of the CFA committee and 14 elected representatives from industry organizations would form a board to oversee a new association whose mandate was to stimulate higher standards of filmmaking, foster educational service and develop public awareness of the industry. On April 11, 1979, the creation of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television was formally announced.

For the first time 500 filmmakers were responsible for nomination and voting. Films were screened for members in Montreal and Toronto and then chosen by secret nomination and final ballot before being submitted to an impartial accounting firm.

Ceremony
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.

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.

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.