TORONTO | MONTREAL – Writer-director Jeffrey St. Jules has won the Academy’s Claude Jutra Award, sponsored by Telefilm Canada, for his first feature film, Bang Bang Baby, it was announced today by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. It will be presented at the Canadian Screen Awards 2-Hour Live Broadcast Gala airing Sunday March 1 at 8pm (8:30 NT) on CBC.

“The Academy is honoured to present filmmaker Jeffrey St-Jules with the Claude Jutra Award for his exuberant musical comedy, Bang Bang Baby,” says Academy Chair Martin Katz. “Bang Bang Baby first dazzled at the Toronto International Film Festival with a bold originality that has set him apart as a Canadian filmmaker to watch.”

In addition to the Claude Jutra Award, Bang Bang Baby has received two Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Justin Chatwin and Achievement in Overall Sound, sponsored by Deluxe Toronto, for Christopher Guglick, Dave Mercel, Steve Moore, Justin Sawyer and Alex Turner.

Written and directed by St. Jules and produced by Scythia Films, Bang Bang Baby tells the tale of a small town teenager (Jane Levy) in the 1960s who believes her dreams of becoming a famous singer will come true when her rock star idol (Justin Chatwin) gets stranded in town. But a leak in a nearby chemical plant that is believed to be causing mass mutations threatens to turn her dream into a nightmare.

Jeffrey St. Jules is a graduate of Concordia University and The Canadian Film Centre. He is the only Canadian ever to have been selected for the Cannes Festival Residence. Prior to his feature film debut with Bang Bang Baby, his short films include The Sadness Of Johnson Joe Jangles, which won him Best Emerging Filmmaker at the Worldwide Short Film Festival and the Genie-nominated short The Tragic Story Of Nling, which was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and was named the best short film of 2007 by Film Threat. Both films premiered at TIFF. His NFB-produced Let The Daylight Into The Swamp was his first foray into both documentary and 3D filmmaking. It premiered at TIFF and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award.

Established in 1993 in honour of the late Quebec filmmaker Claude Jutra who directed the landmark Canadian classic Mon Oncle Antoine, his namesake award celebrates the outstanding debut of a first-time filmmaker. The Academy’s Claude Jutra Award winner is selected by a jury of Canadian filmmakers; the award is sponsored by Telefilm Canada.

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