No more Claude Jutra awards: Quebec film industry chooses interim name
Award show to be called Gala du cinéma québécois, replacing name of late filmmaker accused of pedophilia
Quebec's film industry awards have a new name, at least temporarily.
Nominees and industry notables invited to Quebec's highest cinema honours will gather on March 20 for the straightforward Gala du cinéma québécois.
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Up until last week, the awards were known les prix Jutra. That's when allegations surfaced that the prominent late filmmaker Claude Jutra sexually abused boys as young as six.
Québec Cinéma, the organization which oversees the annual awards, announced the decision to remove his name last Wednesday.
Municipalities across Quebec have also taken steps to remove his name from streets and parks.
The organization announced today that its board of directors unanimously approved the new name for the 2016 awards, adding that the new moniker is intended to serve as a interim solution.
Additional allegations
Since last week's publication of a biography of Jutra which included allegations that the filmmaker had a predilection for sex with minors as young as 13, two people have come forward with detailed accusations of their own sexual abuse by Jutra.
The first alleged victim has remained anonymous. He told La Presse that Jutra began touching him when he was six years old, with the abuse escalating over a 10-year period.
Then, in a letter to La Presse published Saturday, screenwriter Bernard Dansereau wrote that Jutra abused him in the early 1970s when he was 12 or 13 years old.
Jutra is considered a pioneering figure in Quebec cinema, perhaps best known for his 1971 film Mon oncle Antoine.