OTTAWA — In the end, it was dark drama that carried the day for Canadian film.

Incendies, the devastating story how a terrible secret followed a family of immigrants from the Middle East to their new home in Montreal, was named best picture Thursday at the Genie Awards, which honours the best in Canadian cinema.

In addition, Denis Villeneuve was named best director and Belgian actress Lubna Azabal won the Genie for best actress. In total, Incendies won eight Genies.

Barney's Version, based on Mordecai Richler's best-selling book — which had led the pack with 11 nominations — took seven Genies, including prizes for its high-profile actors.

Paul Giamatti was named best actor for his performance as Barney Panofsky, the cynical, romantic and unlikely leading man.

"I'm particularly happy because I think I can take this as a sign that I'm not the American guy who screwed this whole thing up for Canada and Canadians," said Giamatti — one of several high-profile American stars who won Genies in absentia — in a statement. His thanks included the Richler family, "who took in and looked after a stray cat of an actor and made him feel deeply at ease and at home."

"Thank you for another opportunity to express my love and admiration to a great northern land and its people," the statement added.

In what was a mild surprise, Azabal was named best actress for her performance as a woman who led a secret life in the Middle East in Incendies. Among others in the running were Rosamund Pike, in Barney's Version and the late Tracy Wright, who died just before her final film, Trigger, was released. Wright was considered a sentimental favourite, at least.

"I immediately thought it was an amazing project," Azabal said of the dark-tinged role in Incendies. "I knew it would be difficult and a big challenge to me to go through this journey and to understand this woman. But I just jumped. I'm like that."

Villeneuve, whose Polytechnique swept the Genies last year, said the competition was especially difficult this time.

"This year was very meaningful because there was a lot of very good films this year. I'm a huge fan of Barney's Version," he said.

Most of the awards were presented before the televised broadcast, and it was apparent from the beginning that Barney's Version and Incendies would dominate the evening. Incendies won most of the technical prizes — including two awards for sound — while Barney's Version took the more high-profile Genies, including the best-supporting actor award for Dustin Hoffman, who played the hero's effusive father, and a best-supporting actress Genie for Minnie Driver for her turn as the shallow and difficult "second Mrs. Panofsky."

Unfortunately for the awards' glamour content — which began with the show's host, introduced as "Canadian icon" William Shatner — they also stayed away, despite a persistent rumour that Driver had booked an Ottawa hotel and was on the way. In fact, she was busy making a TV pilot and Hoffman was in Los Angeles shooting an HBO-TV show called Luck. Robert Lantos, who produced Barney's Version, told The Ottawa Citizen's Tony Lofaro that HBO "didn't think the Genies were worth shutting down their production."

However, the awards carried on with their own brand of celebrity.

"I'm Canadian icon William Shatner," Shatner said. "They wanted a host who appealed to a younger, hipper demographic. Then they watched the Oscars." Shatner provided the show with an offbeat sense of humour that occasionally veered toward the surreal: he later said he got his big break when he took the stage in Stratford, Ont., to replace Christopher Plummer, "who had syphilis."

Later, Shatner said, "I think the show went well. I was very happy and people laughed and the awards were given out." He told the media how happy he was to be back in Canada, even on a day when Ottawa struggled under a 15-centimetre snowfall: "The snow started falling and I thought, 'Yeah, Canada in the spring. Of course.'"

While the Genies presented a strong roster of movies, the Academy Awards were a major talking point. Azabal was asked how she felt when Incendies — a nominee for a best foreign film Oscar — didn't win.

"We were there anyway," she told a news conference later. "The five finalists. I think when you are part of the five finalists, you've already won something. To win the statue of course brings you much more, but I was like a child. I've never been there. Seeing Oscar. Having picture with Oscar. Saying to my mother, 'See, I was there.' . . . It's not that when one movie gets the statue that the others were bad."

jstone@postmedia.com

The Genie winners from Thursday night’s ceremony

• Best Motion Picture: Incendies

• Art Direction: Claude Pare, Elise de Blois, Barney’s Version

• Cinematography: Andre Turpin, Incendies

• Costume Design: Nicoletta Massone, Barney’s Version

• Direction: Denis Villeneuve, Incendies

• Editing: Monique Dartonne, Incendies

• Makeup: Adrien Morot, Rejean Goderre, Valli O’Reilly, Micheline Trepanier, Barney’s Version

• Music — Original Score: Pasquale Catalano, Barney’s Version

• Music — Original Song: Already Gone, Mary Milne, The Trotsky

• Actor in a leading role: Lubna Azabal, Incendies

• Actor in a supporting role: Dustin Hoffman, Barney’s Version

• Actress in a leading role: Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version

• Actress in a supporting role: Minnie Driver, Barney’s Version

• Overall sound: Jean Umansky, Jocelyn Caron, Jean-Pierre LaForce, Benoid Leduc, Incendies

• Sound editing: Sylvain Bellemare, Simon Meilleur, Claire Pochon, Incendies

• Adapted screenplay: Denis Villeneuve, Incendies

• Original screenplay: Jacob Tierney, The Trotsky

• Documentary: Last Train Home, Lixin Fan, Mila Aung-Thwin, Daniel Cross

• Live-Action Short Drama: Savage, Lisa Jackson, Lauren Grant, Lori Lozinski

• Animated Short: Lipsett Diaries, Theodore Ushev, Marc Bertrand

• Claude Jutra Award (best first feature): Jephte Bastien, Sortie 67 (Honourable mention: Peter Stebbings, Defendor)

• Golden Reel Award (highest box office): Resident Evil: Afterlife (total Canadian box office in 2010: $7,026,559)

• User’s Choice Award: Jay Baruchel