TORONTO - Atom Egoyan's erotic thriller "Chloe" and the TV crime dramas "Flashpoint" and "The Bridge" lead the nominees for the Directors Guild of Canada Awards.
Egoyan's sexually charged feature garnered nods in the five categories it was eligible for -- best picture, direction, production, picture editing and sound editing.
It stars Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson as a married couple whose lives are shattered by a sensuous call girl, played by Amanda Seyfried.
"It's great for the team -- it's probably the only thing we're up for since it's not eligible for Genies or anything like that," Egoyan said Thursday, referring to the Genie Awards which honour the best in Canadian film.
"It's all foreign-financed so it's not technically eligible even though it's obviously a Canadian crew and set in Toronto. It's just one of those weird rules but I understand, the producer should be Canadian, so that makes sense."
"Chloe" faces off against "Cairo Time," "The Trotsky" and "Love and Savagery" for best picture.
In the TV drama categories, CTV's "Flashpoint" nabbed five nominations while CTV's "The Bridge" scored four. They compete for best dramatic series against CBC-TV's "Being Erica" and Space's "Sanctuary."
Squaring off for best TV comedy are: CBC-TV's "Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town," Showcase's "G-Spot," Citytv's "Less Than Kind" (now airing on HBO Canada) and CBC-TV's "Little Mosque on the Prairie."
Other multiple nominees include CBC-TV's hockey biopic, "Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story," with four nominations, and the German-Canadian co-production "Sea Wolf," with three.
Comedian Dave Foley will host the gala Sept. 25 in Toronto.
Although it's not as well-known as other awards shows, Egoyan says the untelevised DGC bash is among the more entertaining.
"It's a fun ceremony. It doesn't have the pressure of other ceremonies so it's an opportunity to get drunk and thank the wrong people if you win."
