The Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short Drama is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian live action short film. Formerly part of the Genie Awards, since 2012 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the award was not always presented at every Genie Award ceremony. In years when the award was not presented, a single award was instead presented for Best Theatrical Short Film, inclusive of both animated and live-action shorts. Under current Academy regulations, the awards for live action and animated shorts can be collapsed into a single award if either category receives two or fewer eligible submissions, but remain separate if both categories surpass two submissions."Canadian Screen Awards Rules and Regulations". Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
1980s Year Film Filmmakers Ref 1980 1st Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . 1981 2nd Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. 1982 3rd Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. 1983 4th Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. 1984 5th Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. 1985 6th Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. 1986 7th Genie Awards The Edit Paul Caulfield "Genie winners" Ottawa Citizen, March 21, 1986. Summer Rain (Pluie d’été) Louis-Georges Tétreault Jay Scott, "Joshua, American Cousin lead pack in Genie pursuit". The Globe and Mail, February 14, 1986. Working Title Fred Jones, Ken Scott 1987 8th Genie Awards I Need a Man Like You to Make My Dreams Come True Daria Stermac, Kalli Paakspuu "Decline of the American Empire wins top prizes at Genie Awards". Calgary Herald, March 19, 1987. It's a Party! Peg Campbell "Genie promises skits both dramatic, comic". The Globe and Mail, March 13, 1987. Nion in the Kabaret de La Vita Jeremy Podeswa Transit Jean-Roch Marcotte Where's Pete Michael Scott 1988 9th Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. 1989 10th Genie Awards The Mysterious Moon Men of Canada Bruce McDonald, Colin Brunton "List of 1989 award winners". Ottawa Citizen, March 23, 1989. Inside/Out Lori Spring "Genie Award nominees 1989". Cinema Canada, February/march 1989. The Job Donald Scott The Milkman Cometh Lorne Bailey Tenderfoot (Le Pied tendre) Viateur Castonguay, Roger Boire
1990s Year Film Filmmakers Ref 1990 11th Genie Awards In Search of the Last Good Man Peggy Thompson, Peg Campbell "Jesus of Montreal in near sweep: Vancouver actress wins a Genie award". Vancouver Sun, March 21, 1990. The Journey Home Mary Armstrong Julia Nunes, "East meets West in battle for Genies". The Globe and Mail, February 14, 1990. Monster in the Coal Bin Ellen Rutter, Tracy Traeger, Allen Schinkel Multiple Choice Debbie McGee Odyssey in August Leonard Farlinger, Stephen Roscoe 1991 12th Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. 1992 13th Genie Awards Battle of the Bulge Arlene Hazzan Green "Naked Lunch top fare at Genies: 8 awards for surrealistic fantasy, but some films ill-served by presenters". The Globe and Mail, November 23, 1992. Kumar and Mr. Jones Paul Brown, Leonard Farlinger H. J. Kirchhoff, "French-Canadian films steal Genie show: Cronenberg's Naked Lunch leads the pack with 11 nominations". The Globe and Mail, October 14, 1992. Stroke Gregory Middleton, Mark Sawers 1993 14th Genie Awards The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore Laurie Lynd "Film centre grads making their mark". Toronto Star, December 24, 1993. The Date Linda Theodosakis, Nikos Theodosakis "The nominees are..." Edmonton Journal, October 20, 1993. Hate Mail Chris Kelly, Mark Sawers Stereotypes (Stéréotypes) Marcel Giroux, Jean-Marc Vallée Your Country, My Country (Dans ton pays...) Marquise Lepage 1994 15th Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. 1995 16th Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. 1996 17th Genie Awards No award presented; see Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film. 1997 18th Genie Awards The Hangman's Bride Naomi McCormack "Hereafter looks sweeter: Atom Egoyan's movie captures eight Genies". Hamilton Spectator, December 15, 1997. Elevated Steve Hoban, Vincenzo Natali, Vanessa Laufer Craig MacInnis, "Sweet on The Hereafter; Atom Egoyan movie leads Genie parade". Edmonton Journal, November 5, 1997. SSHHH Sarah James Overton, Scott Smith, Helen du Toit Zie 37 Stagen Marcel Giroux, Sylvain Guy 1998 19th Genie Awards When Ponds Freeze Over Mary Lewis "Genie Award Winners". Vancouver Sun, February 5, 1999. The Chocolate Bomb (La Bombe au chocolat) Sylvie Rosenthal Craig MacInnis, "McKellar nominated for 22 Genies: Filmmaker, actor cleans up for Last Night, The Red Violin". Ottawa Citizen, December 8, 1998. Claire Julie Trimingham, Ric Kokotovich Elimination Dance Michael Ondaatje, Sandy Kaplansky, Bruce McDonald, Don McKellar Shoes Off! Mark Sawers, Leah Mallen 1999 20th Genie Awards Moving Day Tina Goldlist, Chris Deacon "Canada shines at Genies; Domestic movie productions more than hold their own". Windsor Star, January 31, 2000. Chronique d'un cheval fou Michel Juliani, Raymond Gravelle Kuproquo , Marie-Josée Larocque Meanwhile (Pendant ce temps...) Ghyslaine Côté, Robert Lacerte Revisited Scott Weber
2000s Year Film Filmmakers Ref 2000 21st Genie Awards The Little Varius (Le P'tit Varius) Alain Jacques, André Théberge Michael Posner, "It's a Maelstrom at the Genie awards". The Globe and Mail, January 30, 2001. Below the Belt Dominique Cardona, Laurie Colbert, Kate Gillen "Maelstrom leads Genie nominations with 10 including best picture". Moose Jaw Times-Herald, December 13, 2000. Clean Rite Cowboy Michael Downing, Joel Awerbuck Foxy Lady, Wild Cherry Marlene Rodgers, Ines Buchli Soul Cages Phillip Barker, Simone Urdl 2001 22nd Genie Awards The Heart of the World Guy Maddin, Jody Shapiro "Inuit film Atanarjuat wins five Genie Awards". Sudbury Star, February 8, 2002. Camera David Cronenberg, Jody Shapiro Michael Posner, "Atanarjuat, War Bride lead Genie list". The Globe and Mail, December 13, 2001. Side Orders (Foie de canard et cœur de femme) Marie-Josée Larocque, Stéphane Lapointe, Christiane Ciupka Three Stories from the End of Everything John Buchan, Semi Chellas 2002 23rd Genie Awards I Shout Love Meredith Caplan, Sarah Polley, Jennifer Weiss "Ararat triumphs at Genies". Victoria Times-Colonist, February 14, 2003. Blue Skies Dawn Rubin, Ann Marie Fleming Tamsen Tillson, "Genies grant ‘Ararat’ wish". Variety, December 10, 2002. Clearing Skies (Une éclaircie sur le fleuve) Barbara Shrier, Rosa Zacharie Hit and Run Éric Couture, Éric Beauséjour, Richard Jutras, Ginette Petit, Christian Larouche In Store (En magasin) Raymond Gravelle, Mario Bonenfant Remembrance Stephanie Morgenstern, Paula Fleck 2003 24th Genie Awards Noël Blank Jean-François Rivard, Christiane Ciupka "'Les Invasions' finishes sweep". Regina Leader-Post, May 3, 2004. Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl Brad Peyton, Jim Mauro "Seducing Dr Lewis leads Canada's Genie nods". Screen Daily, March 16, 2004. Lonesome Joe Leah Mallen, Mark Sawers Short Hymn, Silent War Kate Kung, Sandy Reimer, Charles Officer Why Don't You Dance? Meredith Caplan, Michael Downing, Joel Awerbuck 2004 25th Genie Awards Capacité 11 personnes Gaëlle d'Ynglemare, Yves Fortin "Quebec actors, films sweep Genie Awards". Vancouver Sun, March 22, 2005. Choke. David Hyde, Tyler Levine, Carolyn Newman Jay Stone, "Big, small get Genie nods". Kingston Whig-Standard, February 9, 2005. Desastre Jay Field, Jane Michener, Ryan O'Donnell The Dog Walker Andrew Rosen, Geoffrey Turnbull, James Genn TV Dinner...Burp! Antonello Cozzolino, Annie Normandin, Vanessa-Tatjana Beerli 2005 26th Genie Awards Milo 55160 Matthew Cervi, David Ostry "Jean-Marc Vallee's C.R.A.Z.Y. wins big at 2006 Genie awards". The Globe and Mail, March 13, 2006. The Big Thing Carl Laudan Guy Dixon, "Forget the awards. Watch the party". The Globe and Mail, January 26, 2006. Noise Greg Spottiswood, Jason Charters, Liam Romalis The Remaining Days (Les Derniers jours) Simon Olivier Fecteau, Jean-François Lord, Guillaume Lespérance Tuesday Morning...Somewhere (Mardi matin...quelque part) Hélène Bélanger Martin, Antonello Cozzolino 2006 27th Genie Awards Red (Le rouge au sol) Maxime Giroux, Paul Barbeau "Bon Genie, Bad Genie: Canadian film awards handed out". Prince George Citizen, February 14, 2007. Big Girl Renuka Jeyapalan, Anneli Ekborn, Michael Gelfand "Trailer Park Boys, Bon Cop compete for best picture Genie". CBC News, January 9, 2007. Hiro Matthew Swanson, Oliver-Barret Lindsay Jack and Jacques (Jack et Jacques) Marie-Hélène Copti Snapshots for Henry Teresa Hannigan, Charlotte Disher 2007 28th Genie Awards After All (Après tout) Alexis Fortier Gauthier, Élaine Hébert "Away From Her this year's big Genie winner, including wins for Polley and Pinsent". Prince Rupert Daily News, March 5, 2008. Regarding Sarah Michelle Porter, Amy Belling "Genie Awards in brief". Daily Gleaner, March 3, 2008. Screening Anthony Green, Philip Svoboda The Tragic Story of Nling Jeffrey St. Jules, Larissa Giroux The Wake of Calum MacLeod (Faire Chaluim Mhic Leòid) Marc Almon, Nona MacDermid 2008 29th Genie Awards Next Floor Denis Villeneuve and Phoebe Greenberg "Quebec movie scores three major Genies; Pilon's Ce qu'il faut pour vivre Gross's Passchendaele also big winner". Montreal Gazette, April 5, 2009. The Answer Key Samir Rehem, Robin Crumley Peter Knegt, "“Necessities of Life” Leads Genie Nods". IndieWire, February 10, 2009. Beyond the Walls (La Battue) Guy Édoin, Pascal Bascaron, Sylvain Corbeil Can You Wave Bye-Bye? Sarah Galea-Davis, Paul Barbeau My Name Is Victor Gazon (Mon nom est Victor Gazon) Patrick Gazé, Antonello Cozzolino, Marie-Josée Laroque, Annie Normandin 2009 30th Genie Awards Danse Macabre Pedro Pires, Catherine Chagnon "Bold Canadian shorts pack big punch". Toronto Star, September 9, 2011. Gilles Constant Mentzas Linda Barnard, "Drama rules as Genie nominations announced". Toronto Star, March 1, 2010. Land of Men (Terre des hommes) Ky Nam Le Duc Life Begins (La Vie commence) Élaine Hébert, Émile Proulx-Cloutier Princess Margaret Blvd. Dan Montgomery, Kazik Radwanski
2010s