# Night Zoo

Night Zoo (French: Un Zoo la nuit) is a 1987 Canadian film. It is directed and written by Jean-Claude Lauzon. It made its debut at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
It was also the most successful film in the history of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's film awards program up to that point, winning a record 13 Genie Awards in every single category where it was nominated. The film garnered 14 nominations overall; the film's only nomination that failed to translate into a win was Gilles Maheu's nod for Best Actor, as he lost to the film's other Best Actor nominee, Roger Lebel.

## Plot

Marcel (Gilles Maheu) is released from prison after completing a two year sentence for narcotics crime, hoping to reconcile with his dying father, Albert (Roger Lebel), who seems to believe his son has been away on a vacation. His former girlfriend Julie (Lynne Adams) is now working in a sex club peep show. When he returns home, he is soon visited by a pair of dishonest police detectives who demand $200,000 in cash that they believe he still possesses from his earlier activity. One of the detectives, George (Lorne Brass) is a homosexual steeped in sadism, who frequently uses violence to attempt to break him. Amidst the threats he navigates, Marcel and Albert repair their relationship, culminating in an after hours break-in at a local zoo.

## Reception
### Box office

The film grossed $1 million in Quebec within three months of its release.

### Awards

The film won the most Genie Awards in history, with thirteen awards. Gilles Maheu and Roger Lebel were both nominated for best actor.
In 1987, the film won the Grand Prix for Best Film at Film Fest Gent.

### Accolades

Its record 14 Genie Award nominations were tied by the film Brother at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023, although that film fell one award short of matching Night Zoo's 13 wins. Its records in both nominations and wins were surpassed at the 12th Canadian Screen Awards in 2024 by BlackBerry, which took 14 awards from 17 overall nominations.
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Picture | Roger Frappier, Pierre Gendron | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Director | Jean-Claude Lauzon | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Screenplay | Jean-Claude Lauzon | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Actor | Roger Lebel | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Actor | Gilles Maheu | Nominated |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Supporting Actor | Germain Houde | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Art Direction or Production Design | Jean-Baptiste Tard | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Cinematography | Guy Dufaux | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Costume Design | Andrée Morin | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Editing | Michel Arcand | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Overall Sound | Adrian Croll Hans Peter Strobl Yvon Benoît | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Sound Editing | Viateur Paiement Marcel Pothier Diane Boucher | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Music Score | Jean Corriveau | Won |
| Genie Awards | 22 March 1988 | Best Original Song | Jean-Pierre Bonin Daniel De Shaimes Jean Corriveau Robert Stanley | Won |

## Availability

The film was released on videocassette and laserdisc in the United States in 1988 by New World and in Canada that same year by Cinema Plus Video. In 1991, an EP-Mode tape of the film was released by Starmaker Video. After Lauzon was killed in the northern Quebec plane crash in 1997, CBC Television, Télé-Québec and Showcase aired Night Zoo and Léolo in August. To this day, Night Zoo has never been released on DVD and as of June 28, 2011, no plans have been made to release the film onto DVD. It was digitized and restored in May 2013 by Éléphant and is available for online rental on the iTunes Store.