Québec Cinéma presents an annual award for Best Actress () to recognize the best in the Cinema of Quebec.
Until 2016, it was known as the Jutra Award for Best Actress in memory of influential Quebec film director Claude Jutra. Following the withdrawal of Jutra's name from the award, the 2016 award was presented under the name Québec Cinéma. The Prix Iris name was announced in October 2016.
Céline Bonnier received the most nominations in this category, five, and received two awards. Karine Vanasse became the first actress to win the award twice. Three non-Canadian actresses won the award in consecutive years: Lubna Azabal for Incendies, Vanessa Paradis for Café de Flore and Rachel Mwanza for War Witch (Rebelle), the latter becoming the first black actress to win the award. Ginette Reno is the only actress to receive two nominations for playing the same role in different films, namely It's Your Turn, Laura Cadieux (C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux) and Laura Cadieux II (Laura Cadieux...la suite).
Four actresses received nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress or Revelation of the Year in the same year: In 2005, Céline Bonnier was nominated for Best Actress for Machine Gun Molly (Monica la mitraille) and Best Supporting Actress for The Last Tunnel (Le dernier tunnel). In 2007, Bonnier achieved the same feat again, winning Best Actress for Deliver Me (Délivrez-moi) while receiving a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for A Sunday in Kigali (Un dimanche à Kigali). In 2017, Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez was nominated for Best Actress for Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves (Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau) and Best Supporting Actress for Bad Seeds (Les mauvaises herbes). In 2022, Hélène Florent became the first person to win both awards during the same ceremony: Best Actress for Drunken Birds (Les oiseaux ivres) and Best Supporting Actress for Maria Chapdelaine. In 2024, Ariane Castellanos won both Best Actress and Revelation of the Year for Richelieu, becoming the first to win two awards for the same film.
1990s Year Actress Film Ref 1999 1st Jutra Awards Pascale Montpetit Streetheart (Le cœur au poing) "Les Prix Jutras / The Jutra Awards". Northern Stars. Sylvia Chang The Red Violin (Le violon rouge) "Red Violin leads pack for Jutra Awards". The Globe and Mail, January 28, 1999. Charlotte Laurier 2 Seconds (2 secondes) Ginette Reno It's Your Turn, Laura Cadieux (C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux)
2000s Year Actress Film Ref 2000 2nd Jutra Awards Karine Vanasse Set Me Free (Emporte-moi) Ginette Reno Laura Cadieux II (Laura Cadieux...la suite) "À la grandeur de la planète!". La Presse, January 27, 2000. Pierrette Robitaille Laura Cadieux II (Laura Cadieux...la suite) Guylaine Tremblay Matroni and Me (Matroni et moi) 2001 3rd Jutra Awards Marie-Josée Croze Maelström Hélène Loiselle The Bottle (La bouteille) "Maelstrom hooks 8 more: Villeneuve's talking-fish flick leads pack of Quebec film award nominees". Montreal Gazette, January 24, 2001. Fanny Mallette The Orphan Muses (Les muses orphelines) Louise Portal Full Blast 2002 4th Jutra Awards Élise Guilbault The Woman Who Drinks (La femme qui boit) Fanny Mallette A Girl at the Window (Une jeune fille à la fenêtre) "Quebec Jutra awards finalists announced". Screen Daily, January 24, 2002. Isabel Richer The Pig's Law (La loi du cochon) Catherine Trudeau Tar Angel (L'ange de goudron) 2003 5th Jutra Awards Karine Vanasse Séraphin: Heart of Stone (Séraphin: Un homme et son péché) Pascale Bussières Chaos and Desire (La turbulence des fluides) John Griffin, "Seraphin leads with 9 Jutra nominations". Montreal Gazette, January 29, 2003. Maude Guérin The Collector (Le collectionneur) Marie-Chantal Perron The Mysterious Miss C. (La mystérieuse Mademoiselle C.) 2004 6th Jutra Awards Marie-Josée Croze The Barbarian Invasions (Les invasions barbares) Sylvie Drapeau Juniper Tree (Le piège d'Issoudun) Odile Tremblay, "Les Invasions barbares, La Grande Séduction et Gaz Bar Blues dominent la course aux Jutra". Le Devoir, January 22, 2004. Micheline Lanctôt How My Mother Gave Birth to Me During Menopause (Comment ma mère accoucha de moi durant sa ménopause) Ginette Reno Mambo Italiano 2005 7th Jutra Awards Pascale Bussières Bittersweet Memories (Ma vie en cinémascope) Isabelle Blais Love and Magnets (Les aimants) Martin Bilodeau, "Ma vie en cinémascope domine les nominations des Jutra". Le Devoir, January 25, 2005. Céline Bonnier Machine Gun Molly (Monica la mitraille) Jacinthe Laguë The Five of Us (Elles étaient cinq) 2006 8th Jutra Awards Élise Guilbault The Novena (La neuvaine) Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc Aurore Odile Tremblay, "Maurice Richard et C.R.A.Z.Y. dominent la course aux Jutra". Le Devoir, February 8, 2006. Suzanne Clément Audition (L'audition) Julie Le Breton The Rocket (Maurice Richard) 2007 9th Jutra Awards Céline Bonnier Deliver Me (Délivrez-moi) Fatou N'Diaye A Sunday in Kigali (Un dimanche à Kigali) Manon Dumais, "Canuel vs. Favreau aux Jutras". Voir, January 23, 2007. Danielle Proulx Family History (Histoire de famille) Ginette Reno A Family Secret (Le secret de ma mère) 2008 10th Jutra Awards Guylaine Tremblay Summit Circle (Contre toute espérance) Sylvie Léonard Days of Darkness (L'âge des ténèbres) Karl Filion, "Jutra 2008 : Les 3 p'tits cochons domine avec 13 nominations". Cinoche, February 6, 2008. Isabel Richer The 3 L'il Pigs (Les 3 p'tits cochons) Karine Vanasse My Daughter, My Angel (Ma fille, mon ange) 2009 11th Jutra Awards Isabelle Blais Borderline Suzanne Clément It's Not Me, I Swear! (C'est pas moi, je le jure!) Charles-Henri Ramond, "Jutra 2009: liste des nommés". Films du Québec, March 24, 2009. Susan Sarandon Emotional Arithmetic Guylaine Tremblay Honey, I'm in Love (Le grand départ)
2010s Year Actress Film Ref 2010 12th Jutra Awards Anne Dorval I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) Céline Bonnier Je me souviens "Jutra : liste des finalistes". La Presse, February 16, 2010. Marie-Thérèse Fortin Heat Wave (Les grandes chaleurs) Isabelle Guérard Detour (Détour) Élise Guilbault The Legacy (La donation) 2011 13th Jutra Awards Lubna Azabal Incendies Suzanne Clément Silence Lies (Tromper le silence) "Neuf prix pour Incendies". Le Journal de Montréal, March 13, 2011. Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin Incendies Évelyne Rompré Twice a Woman (Deux fois une femme) Guylaine Tremblay Mourning for Anna (Trois temps après la mort d'Anna) 2012 14th Jutra Awards Vanessa Paradis Café de Flore Céline Bonnier Coteau rouge Charles-Henri Ramond, "Prix Jutra 2012: voilà les nominations". Films du Québec, January 31, 2012. Catherine De Léan Nuit #1 Julie Le Breton A Life Begins (Une vie qui commence) Madeleine Péloquin For the Love of God (Pour l'amour de Dieu) 2013 15th Jutra Awards Rachel Mwanza War Witch (Rebelle) Micheline Bernard Small Blind (La mise à l'aveugle) "Jutra : Laurence anyways et Rebelle en tête des nominations". Ici Radio-Canada, January 31, 2013. Marilyn Castonguay L'Affaire Dumont Suzanne Clément Laurence Anyways Dominique Quesnel The Torrent (Le torrent) 2014 16th Jutra Awards Pierrette Robitaille Vic and Flo Saw a Bear (Vic+Flo ont vu un ours) Chloé Bourgeois Diego Star Manon Dumais, "Jutra 2014: Le triomphe de Louis Cyr". Voir, March 23, 2014. Line Castonguay Triptych (Triptyque) Rose-Maïté Erkoreka Louis Cyr (Louis Cyr: L'homme le plus fort du monde) Marie-Evelyne Lessard Fair Sex (Les manèges humains) 2015 17th Jutra Awards Anne Dorval Mommy Julianne Côté You're Sleeping Nicole (Tu dors Nicole) Charles-Henri Ramond, "Jutra 2015 : les nominations". Films du Québec, January 26, 2015. Laurence Leboeuf The Little Queen (La petite reine) Joëlle Paré-Beaulieu What Are We Doing Here? (Qu'est-ce qu'on fait ici ?) Lise Roy Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme) 2016 18th Quebec Cinema Awards Céline Bonnier The Passion of Augustine (La passion d'Augustine) Maxime Demers, "La passion d’Augustine triomphe". Le Journal de Montréal, March 20, 2016. Laurence Leboeuf Turbo Kid Fanny Mallette Chorus Anna Mouglalis Anna Hadas Yaron Felix and Meira (Félix et Meira) 2017 19th Quebec Cinema Awards Mylène Mackay Nelly Pat Mullen, "'It's Only the End of the World' Leads Quebec's Prix Iris Winners". Cinemablographer, June 4, 2017. Karina Aktouf Montreal, White City (Montréal la blanche) Nathalie Baye It's Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde) Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves (Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau) Tatiana Maslany Two Lovers and a Bear 2018 20th Quebec Cinema Awards Maude Guérin Family First (Chien de garde) "Les affamés et Robin Aubert triomphent au Gala Québec Cinéma". Ici Radio-Canada, June 3, 2018. Charlotte Aubin Isla Blanca André Duchesne, "Iris: Le problème d'infiltration et Hochelaga en tête des nominations". La Presse, April 10, 2018. Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin Threesome (Le trip à trois) Denise Filiatrault It's the Heart That Dies Last (C'est le cœur qui meurt en dernier) Élise Guilbault A Place to Live (Pour vivre ici) 2019 21st Quebec Cinema Awards Debbie Lynch-White La Bolduc Marc-André Lussier, "Gala Québec Cinéma: 1991 sacré meilleur film de l’année". La Presse, June 2, 2019. Josée Deschênes Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire des villes disparues) Brigitte Poupart Les Salopes, or the Naturally Wanton Pleasure of Skin (Les salopes ou le sucre naturel de la peau) Karelle Tremblay The Fireflies Are Gone (La disparition des lucioles) Carla Turcotte Sashinka
2020s