Many SOCAN members were featured as award winners and guest artists on Mar. 28, 2010, as part of the 12^th annual Soirée des Jutra (Jutra Awards) celebrating Quebec cinema. The award for best original music went to Éloi Painchaud, Les Colocs and the group’s late iconic leader André “Dédé” Fortin, while Loco Locass’s Sébastien Ricard won the best actor award for the film Dédé à travers les brumes. Mike Sawatsky, of Les Colocs, played onstage during a presentation of excerpts from the film, which was nominated in 10 categories. For the film itself, the Colocs songs had been recorded with the voice of Sébastien Ricard. Dédé à travers les brumes also won in the best artistic direction and best costume categories.

Other SOCAN members were represented by their music at the awards ceremony, which was hosted by the popular comedian and game-show host Patrice Lécuyer, and televised live on Radio-Canada and around the French-speaking world on TV5. Included were two songs whose first exposure was on the soundtracks of Quebec films by directors who died in the past year, Richard Desjardins’s “Le cœur est un oiseau” in Pierre Falardeau’s Le Party, and Stéphane Venne’s “Le temps est bon” in Gilles Carle’s Les mâles. Later in the show, Elisapie Isaac performed “Why Must We Die,” a song written by Kate and Anna McGarrigle for the film Before Tomorrow.

In the top categories, Xavier Dolan, 20, took home the Jutras for best film, best script and most internationally successful Quebec film for his self-written and self-produced J’ai tué ma mère. Denis Villeneuve received his second best direction Jutra for Polytechnique. The composer Benoît Charest, who wrote the film’s music, played the guitar onstage during a presentation of excerpts from this sombre film.

For a complete list of nominees and winners in the film, artist and craft categories (in French only), visit the Soirée des Jutra website.