# Bijou Awards

The Bijou Awards were a Canadian award for non-feature films, launched in 1981 but presented only once before being discontinued. Created as a joint project of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and the Canadian Film and Television Association (CFTA), the awards were essentially a new home for many of the categories, particularly but not exclusively the ones for television films, that had been dropped after the old Canadian Film Awards transitioned into the Genie Awards in 1980, as well as for the CFTA's trade and craft awards in areas such as television advertising and educational films.
The ceremony was held on October 28, 1981, at Casa Loma in Toronto, Ontario, and hosted by Nancy White.
The awards were not presented in 1982, as the Academy of Canadian Cinema undertook detailed planning toward introducing permanent television awards. In 1983, the Academy formally proposed that the Bijou Awards replace the ACTRA Awards as the primary national television award, although this did not occur and the Bijous were ultimately never presented again; instead, the Gemini Awards, the Academy's permanent awards for television production, were launched in 1986, and in 2012 the Genies and the Geminis were merged into the contemporary Canadian Screen Awards.
Some later sources have occasionally misattributed the Bijou winners as Genie or Gemini winners.

## Winners and nominees

| Best Television Drama Over 30 Minutes | Best Television Drama Under 30 Minutes |
| War Brides — Bill Gough The Running Man You've Come a Long Way, Katie | The Olden Days Coat — Michael MacMillan, Seaton McLean, Janice Platt Dernier Voyage Irene Moves In |
| Best Documentary Over 30 Minutes | Best Documentary Under 30 Minutes |
| Challenger: An Industrial Romance — Stephen Low The Last Days of Living The Lost Pharaoh | Nose and Tina — Wolf Koenig Laughlines Steady as She Goes |
| Best Actor | Best Actress |
| Chuck Shamata, The Running Man Richard Monette, A Far Cry from Home Al Waxman, The Winnings of Frankie Walls | Lally Cadeau, You've Come a Long Way, Katie Sharry Flett, War Brides Dixie Seatle, A Population of One |
| Best Animation | Best Television Variety or Music |
| Getting Started — Richard Condie, Jerry Krepavich One Way Street (Les Naufragés du quartier) — Bernard Longpré Premiers jours — Clorinda Warny, Suzanne Gervais, Lina Gagnon | Royal Canadian Air Farce — Trevor Evans Catulli Carmina The Hawk |
| Best Director of a Drama | Best Director of a Documentary |
| Donald Brittain, The Running Man Martin Lavut, War Brides Peter Rowe, Final Edition | Norma Bailey, Nose and Tina Robert Fresco, Steady as She Goes Nick Kendall, The Last Pharaoh |
| Nielsen-Ferns International First Production Award | Chetwynd Award for Business Promotion |
| Exposure - Wayne Arron Against the River — York University Film Department Steady as She Goes — Pretty Pictures | PFA Labs |
| Best Screenplay | Best Non-Dramatic Script |
| Gilles Carle and Roger Lemelin, The Plouffe Family (Les Plouffe) Tony Sheer, Final Edition Grahame Woods, War Brides | Michel Gerard, The Canadian Establishment: "Ten Toronto Street" Donald Brittain, The Lost Pharaoh Gail Singer, Love, Honoured and Bruised |
| Best Instructional Program | Best Commercial |
| Estuary — Peter Jones Class Project: The Garbage Movie What's Bugging Him? | Imperial Oil: "Energy Efficiency" — Patti Grech Coffee Council: "Cowboys" — Rabko Television Productions Sunlight: "Wedding" — The Partners Film Co. |
| Best Art Direction | Best Music Score |
| Barbara McLean, War Brides | Larry Crosley, The Lost Pharaoh |
| Best Cinematography in a Drama | Best Cinematography in a Documentary |
| Vic Sarin, War Brides | Robert Fresco, Steady as She Goes |
| Best Independent Production | Best Sales, Promotion or Public Relations Film |
| The Breakthrough — Ira Levy, Peter Williamson The Olden Days Coat One Thousand Dozen Le Paradis des Chefs — Badji le pur | Snow — Lloyd Walton for Ontario Parks Be a Winner! — Pro Creation Canada The Little Paper That Grew — Extra Modern Productions |
| Best Editing in a Drama | Best Editing in a Documentary |
| Myrtle Virgo, War Brides | Harvey Zlatarits, The Hawk |
| Best Sound | Best Visual Effects |
| Ed Chong, The Running Man | Colin Chivers, RC Cola: "Innertube" |
| Best Audio-Video, 1-7 Projector Programs | Best Audio-Video, 8-18 Projector Programs |
| Modulighting | The Green Network |