Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction

The Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian film director.

Statistics

• Most wins: David Cronenberg is the most successful director in the award's history, with five wins. Denys Arcand and Denis Villeneuve are tied for second place with three wins each, and Bob Clark, François Girard and Atom Egoyan have each won the award twice. No other director has, to date, won the award more than once.
• Women: Three women — Micheline Lanctôt, Sandy Wilson and Sarah Polley — have won the award to date.

Winners and nominees

Year	Winner	Nominated
1980	Bob Clark, Murder by Decree	Peter Carter, Klondike Fever Anne-Claire Poirier, Mourir à tue-tête Donald Shebib, Fish Hawk Eric Till, Wild Horse Hank
1981	Francis Mankiewicz, Les bons débarras (Good Riddance)	Bob Clark, Tribute Zale Dalen, Hounds of Notre Dame Jean-Claude Labrecque, L'Affaire Coffin Micheline Lanctôt, L'Homme à tout faire
1982	Gilles Carle, Les Plouffe	David Cronenberg, Scanners Allan King, Silence of the North Donald Shebib, Heartaches Ralph L. Thomas, Ticket to Heaven
1983	Phillip Borsos, The Grey Fox	Rex Bromfield, Melanie Jean-Pierre Lefebvre, Les fleurs sauvages Robert Ménard, Une journée en taxi Eric Till, If You Could See What I Hear
1984	Bob Clark, A Christmas Story David Cronenberg, Videodrome	Bruno Carrière, Lucien Brouillard Jack Darcus, Deserters André Forcier, Au clair de la lune Brigitte Sauriol, Rien qu'un jeu
1985	Micheline Lanctôt, Sonatine	Atom Egoyan, Next of Kin Jean-Pierre Lefebvre, Le Jour S... Don Owen, Unfinished Business Léa Pool, La Femme de l'hôtel
1986	Sandy Wilson, My American Cousin	Jean Beaudin, Le Matou Claude Jutra, La Dame en couleurs Ted Kotcheff, Joshua Then and Now Giles Walker, 90 Days
1987	Denys Arcand, Le Déclin de l'empire américain (The Decline of the American Empire)	Leon Marr, Dancing in the Dark Yves Simoneau, Pouvoir intime John N. Smith, Sitting in Limbo Anne Wheeler, Loyalties
1988	Jean-Claude Lauzon, Un zoo la nuit	Atom Egoyan, Family Viewing Marquise Lepage, Marie s'en va-t-en ville Patricia Rozema, I've Heard the Mermaids Singing John N. Smith, Train of Dreams
1989	David Cronenberg, Dead Ringers	Roger Cardinal, Malarek Louise Clark, Jackie Burroughs, John Walker, Aerlyn Weissman and John Frizzell, A Winter Tan Francis Mankiewicz, Les Portes tournantes Anne Wheeler, Cowboys Don't Cry
1990	Denys Arcand, Jésus de Montréal (Jesus of Montreal)	François Bouvier and Jean Beaudry, Les Matins infidèles Atom Egoyan, Speaking Parts John N. Smith, Welcome to Canada Anne Wheeler, Bye Bye Blues
1991	Bruce Beresford, Black Robe	Phillip Borsos, Bethune: The Making of a Hero Atom Egoyan, The Adjuster André Forcier, Une histoire inventée Darrell Wasyk, H
1992	David Cronenberg, Naked Lunch	Jean Beaudin, Being at Home with Claude Eli Cohen, The Quarrel Jean-Claude Lauzon, Léolo Robert Morin, Requiem pour un beau sans-coeur
1993	François Girard, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould	Paule Baillargeon, Le Sexe des étoiles Atom Egoyan, Calendar George Mihalka, La Florida Sandy Wilson, Harmony Cats
1994	Atom Egoyan, Exotica	André Forcier, Le Vent du Wyoming Micheline Lanctôt, Deux actrices Richard J. Lewis, Whale Music Léa Pool, Mouvements du désir Mina Shum, Double Happiness
Jan. 1996	Robert Lepage, Le Confessionnal (The Confessional)	Charles Binamé, Eldorado Mort Ransen, Margaret's Museum Jean-Marc Vallée, Liste Noire Clement Virgo, Rude
Nov. 1996	David Cronenberg, Crash	John Fawcett, The Boys Club John Greyson, Lilies Robert Lepage, Le Polygraphe Bruce McDonald, Hard Core Logo
1997	Atom Egoyan, The Sweet Hereafter	Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden André Forcier, La Comtesse de Baton Rouge Gabriel Pelletier, Karmina Lynne Stopkewich, Kissed
1999	François Girard, The Red Violin	Sturla Gunnarsson, Such a Long Journey Don McKellar, Last Night Gillies MacKinnon, Regeneration Jonathan Tammuz, Rupert's Land
2000	Jeremy Podeswa, The Five Senses	Louis Bélanger, Post Mortem Atom Egoyan, Felicia's Journey Léa Pool, Emporte-moi (Set Me Free) Istvan Szabo, Sunshine
2001	Denis Villeneuve, Maelström	Gary Burns, waydowntown Alain DesRochers, La Bouteille Robert Favreau, Les Muses Orphelines Robert Lepage, Possible Worlds
2002	Zacharias Kunuk, Atanarjuat	Denis Chouinard, L'ange de goudron Renny Bartlett, Eisenstein Bernard Émond, La Femme qui boit William Phillips, Treed Murray
2003	David Cronenberg, Spider	Jean Beaudin, Le collectionneur Sturla Gunnarsson, Rare Birds Ricardo Trogi, Québec-Montréal Anne Wheeler, Suddenly Naked
2004	Denys Arcand, Les Invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions)	Robert Lepage, La Face cachée de la lune (Far Side of the Moon) Jean-François Pouliot, Seducing Doctor Lewis Guy Maddin, The Saddest Music in the World Charles Martin Smith, The Snow Walker
2005	Francis Leclerc, Mémoires affectives (Looking for Alexander)	Denise Filiatrault, Ma vie en cinémascope Pierre Houle, Monica la mitraille Bronwen Hughes, Stander David "Sudz" Sutherland, Love, Sex and Eating the Bones
2006	Jean-Marc Vallée, C.R.A.Z.Y.	Louise Archambault, Familia Michael Dowse, It's All Gone Pete Tong Deepa Mehta, Water Luc Picard, L'Audition
2007	Charles Binamé, The Rocket	Érik Canuel, Bon Cop, Bad Cop Robert Favreau, A Sunday in Kigali Stéphane Lapointe, La Vie secrète des gens heureux (The Secret Life of Happy People) Jean-François Pouliot, Guide de la Petite Vengeance (Book of Revenge)
2008	Sarah Polley, Away From Her	Denys Arcand, L'Âge des ténèbres (Days of Darkness) David Cronenberg, Eastern Promises Bruce McDonald, The Tracey Fragments Roger Spottiswoode, Shake Hands With the Devil
2009	Benoît Pilon, Ce qu'il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life)	Carl Bessai, Normal Lyne Charlebois, Borderline Yves-Christian Fournier, Tout est parfait (Everything Is Fine) Richie Mehta, Amal
2010	Denis Villeneuve, Polytechnique	Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu, Before Tomorrow Bruce McDonald, Pontypool Charles Officer, Nurse.Fighter.Boy Kari Skogland, Fifty Dead Men Walking
2011	Denis Villeneuve, Incendies	Xavier Dolan, Les Amours imaginaires (Heartbeats) Richard J. Lewis, Barney's Version Vincenzo Natali, Splice Podz, 10½
2012	Philippe Falardeau, Monsieur Lazhar	David Cronenberg, A Dangerous Method Larysa Kondracki, The Whistleblower Steven Silver, The Bang Bang Club Jean-Marc Vallée, Café de Flore