'Room,' 'Schitt's Creek' lead nominations for Canadian Screen Awards

Brie Larson, left, and Jacob Tremblay appear in a scene from the film, 'Room'. (A24 Films via AP)

TORONTO -- The Oscar-nominated dramatic feature "Room" and the CBC-TV sitcom "Schitt's Creek" lead the film and TV nominees seeking hardware at the Canadian Screen Awards.

"Room" tops the film competition with 11 nominations including one for best picture. The Canada-Ireland co-production is in a crowded field of a record 10 contenders, including the celebrated Canada-U.K.-Ireland co-production "Brooklyn," which is also up for Oscars.

"Schitt's Creek" tops the TV side with 14 nominations, half of them in acting categories. Father-and-son stars Eugene and Dan Levy face off in the category for best actor in a comedy.

Close behind is Space's "Orphan Black" with 13 nominations, although it was shut out of the best TV drama category. That race will be between "19-2," "Blackstone," "Motive, "Saving Hope" and "X Company."

Other best film nominees include "Corbo," "The Demons," "Felix and Meira," "The Forbidden Room," "My Internship in Canada," "Our Loved Ones," "Remember" and "Sleeping Giant."

But "Room" is the clear front-runner, especially after nabbing four Oscar nominations last week including a best director nod for Ireland's Lenny Abrahamson, a best actress nomination for Brie Larson, and best adapted screenplay recognition for Irish-Canadian scribe Emma Donoghue.

"Room" co-star Tom McCamus said he was pleased to see the Canadian awards also hand the film nods for best director, best actress, best actor for nine-year-old Jacob Tremblay, and best supporting actress for Joan Allen.

"You sort of always hope that you do a film that you like and that (this) kind of thing is going to happen, but you never expect it to happen. And it happened this time," said McCamus, who got a TV acting nomination for his role in CBC's "King John."

Based on Donoghue's celebrated 2010 novel of the same name, "Room" follows the childhood of a five-year-old boy raised in captivity with his mother.

"A lot of people I've talked to said, 'I read the book and I loved the book' and sometimes they were afraid to go and see the film because of that. But it's so life affirming that I think they enjoy it," McCamus said of the film's breakthrough.

The Paul Gross war film "Hyena Road" garnered eight nominations, while Anne Emond's francophone film "Our Loved Ones" earned seven.

Eyes will also be on "Brooklyn," which was largely shot in Montreal and earned Oscar consideration for best picture, best actress and best adapted screenplay.

Martin Katz, chairman of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, which administers the bash, said it was "an incredible year" for homegrown film.

"Our juries were insistent this year that there was such a richness of diversity of films that were produced in Canada we had to go to the maximum and nominate all 10 top films."

The Canadian Screen Awards will be broadcast on CBC-TV on March 13. The annual gala celebrates the best in Canadian film, television and digital media.

Comic Norm Macdonald will host the ceremony, where Martin Short is set to receive a lifetime achievement award.