The Prix Michel-Côté is an annual film award, presented by Québec Cinéma as part of its annual Prix Iris, to honour the most popular film of the year among film audiences in Quebec.
First presented in 1999 as part of the Prix Jutra, the award was known as the Billet d'or ("Golden Ticket"), and was presented to the film that had been the most successful at the box office. When the awards program was relaunched as the Prix Iris, the Billet d'or was relaunched as the Prix Public, which now sees the five top-grossing films of the year submitted to a public vote to award the film that was most liked by audiences.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and its effects on film distribution in 2020, the 23rd Quebec Cinema Awards in 2021 did not limit the award to only the five top-grossing films of the year, but allowed the public to vote for their favourite among all 16 Quebec films that had received any commercial screenings at all in the previous year. Ten days after the initial announcement, the organization also decided to add all of the eligible documentary films to the vote as well, bringing the total number of eligible films for the award to 29."Québec Cinéma décide finalement d’inclure les documentaires pour le prix du public". Ici Radio-Canada, May 7, 2021. After a first round of voting, the nominees were reduced to five, including two documentaries: Call Me Human and eventual winner The Rose Family.
In December 2023, following the death of influential Quebec actor Michel Côté, Québec Cinéma announced the award's renaming in his memory."Gala Québec Cinéma | Québec Cinéma renomme l’IRIS Prix du public, l’IRIS Prix Michel-Côté". CTVM, December 11, 2023. Côté had starred in six "Billet d'or" winning films: Life After Love (La Vie après l'amour), C.R.A.Z.Y., Cruising Bar 2, Father and Guns (De père en flic), Piché: The Landing of a Man (Piché, entre ciel et terre) and Omertà.
1990s Year Film Directors and producers 1999 1st Jutra Awards Les Boys Louis Saia, Richard Goudreau, Jeffrey Tinnell
2000s Year Film Directors and producers 2000 2nd Jutra Awards Les Boys II Louis Saia, Richard Goudreau, Jeffrey Tinnell 2001 3rd Jutra Awards Life After Love (La Vie après l'amour) Gabriel Pelletier, Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal 2002 4th Jutra Awards Les Boys III Louis Saia, Richard Goudreau, Jeffrey Tinnell 2003 5th Jutra Awards Séraphin: Heart of Stone (Séraphin: un homme et son péché) Charles Binamé, Louis Laverdière, Luc Martineau 2004 6th Jutra Awards Seducing Doctor Lewis (La Grande séduction) Jean-François Pouliot, Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal 2005 7th Jutra Awards Happy Camper (Camping sauvage) Guy A. Lepage, Sylvain Roy, Lyse Lafontaine, Tony Roman 2006 8th Jutra Awards C.R.A.Z.Y. Jean-Marc Vallée, Pierre Even 2007 9th Jutra Awards Bon Cop, Bad Cop Érik Canuel, Kevin Tierney 2008 10th Jutra Awards The 3 L'il Pigs (Les 3 p'tits cochons) Patrick Huard, Pierre Gendron, Christian Larouche 2009 11th Jutra Awards Cruising Bar 2 Michel Côté, Robert Ménard, Claude Bonin, Claire Wojas
2010s Year Film Directors and producers 2010 12th Jutra Awards Father and Guns (De père en flic) Émile Gaudreault, Daniel Louis, Denise Robert 2011 13th Jutra Awards Piché: The Landing of a Man (Piché, entre ciel et terre) Sylvain Archambault, André Dupuy 2012 14th Jutra Awards Starbuck Ken Scott, André Rouleau 2013 15th Jutra Awards Omertà Luc Dionne, Daniel Louis, Denise Robert 2014 16th Jutra Awards Louis Cyr (Louis Cyr, l'homme le plus fort du monde) Daniel Roby, Caroline Héroux, Christian Larouche, Stephanie Heroux 2015 17th Jutra Awards Mommy Xavier Dolan, Nancy Grant 2016Maxime Demers, "La passion d’Augustine triomphe". Le Journal de Montréal, March 20, 2016. 18th Quebec Cinema Awards Snowtime! (La Guerre des tuques 3D) Jean-François Pouliot, Marie-Claude Beauchamp, François Brisson 2017 19th Quebec Cinema Awards 1:54 Yan England, Diane England, Denise Robert The 3 L'il Pigs 2 (Les 3 p'tits cochons 2) Jean-François Pouliot, Pierre Gendron, Christian Larouche Bad Seeds (Les Mauvaises Herbes) Louis Bélanger, Lorraine Dufour, Luc Vandal It's Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde) Xavier Dolan, Sylvain Corbeil, Nancy Grant, Elisha Karmitz, Nathanaël Karmitz, Michel Merkt Votez Bougon Jean-François Pouliot, Fabienne Larouche, Michel Trudeau 2018 20th Quebec Cinema Awards Major Junior (Junior Majeur) Éric Tessier, Christian Larouche Ballerina Éric Summer, Éric Warin, Laurent Zeitoun, Yann Zenou, Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, André Rouleau, Valérie d'Auteuil Bon Cop, Bad Cop 2 Alain DesRochers, Pierre Even, Patrick Huard, François Flamand Father and Guns 2 (De père en flic 2) Émile Gaudreault, Denise Robert Threesome (Le Trip à trois) Nicolas Monette, Guillaume Lespérance, André Dupuy 2019 21st Quebec Cinema Awards 1991 Ricardo Trogi, Nicole Robert La Bolduc François Bouvier, Valérie D'Auteuil, André Rouleau The Fall of the American Empire (La Chute de l'empire américain) Denys Arcand, Denise Robert The Fireflies Are Gone (La disparition des lucioles) Sébastien Pilote, Marc Daigle, Bernadette Payeur Racetime (La Course des tuques) Benoît Godbout, Marie-Claude Beauchamp, François Brisson
2020s Year Film Directors and producers Ref 2020 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards And the Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux) Louise Archambault, Ginette Petit A Brother's Love (La femme de mon frère) Monia Chokri, Sylvain Corbeil, Nancy Grant Compulsive Liar (Menteur) Émile Gaudreault, Denise Robert Mafia Inc. Daniel Grou, Antonello Cozzolino, Valérie d'Auteuil, André Rouleau Thanks for Everything (Merci pour tout) Louise Archambault, André Dupuy 202123rd Quebec Cinema Awards The Rose Family (Les Rose) Félix Rose, Marco Frascarelli, Colette Loumède, Philippe-A. Allard, Eric Piccoli Call Me Human (Je m'appelle humain) Kim O'Bomsawin, Andrée-Anne Frenette The Decline (Jusqu'au déclin) Patrice Laliberté, Julie Groleau, Nicolas Krief, Charles Dionne Goddess of the Fireflies (La déesse des mouches à feu) Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, Luc Vandal, Catherine Léger The Vinland Club (Le Club Vinland) Benoît Pilon, Chantal Lafleur, Normand Bergeron, Marc Robitaille 202224th Quebec Cinema Awards Sam Diane England, Denise Robert, Yan England, André Gulluni Drunken Birds (Les oiseaux ivres) Luc Déry, Kim McCraw, Sara Mishara, Ivan Grbovic Goodbye Happiness (Au revoir le bonheur) Christian Larouche, Ken Scott The Guide to the Perfect Family (La guide de la famille parfaite) Louis Morissette, Félize Frappier, Louis-Philippe Drolet, Ricardo Trogi, François Avard, Jean-François Léger Maria Nathalie Brigitte Bustos, Alec Provonost, Mariana Mazza, Justine Phillie Maria Chapdelaine Pierre Even, Sylvain Proulx, Sébastien Pilote Old Buddies (Les vieux chums) Samuel Gagnon, Claude Gagnon, Bahija Essoussi, Yuri Yoshimura-Gagnon The Perfect Victim (La victime parfaite) Denise Robert, Monic Néron, Émilie Perreault A Revision (Une révision) Denise Robert, Catherine Therrien, Louis Godbout, Normand Corbeil The Time Thief (L'arracheuse de temps) Antonello Cozzolino, Francis Leclerc, Fred Pellerin 202325th Quebec Cinema Awards My Mother's Men (Les hommes de ma mère) Patrick Roy, Patrick Huard, Anik Jean, Maryse Latendresse Maxime Demers, "Le film «Viking», de Stéphane Lafleur, grand gagnant du 25e Gala Québec Cinéma". Le Journal de Montréal, December 10, 2023. Confessions of a Hitman (Confessions) Christian Larouche, Sébastien Létourneau, Luc Picard, Sylvain Guy "Québec Cinéma dévoile les finalistes aux PRIX IRIS 2023". CTVM, November 14, 2023. Katak: The Brave Beluga (Katak, le brave béluga) Nancy Florence Savard, Christine Dallaire-Dupont, Nicola Lemay, Andrée Lambert, Xiaojuan Zhou, Chantale Pagé One Summer (Le temps d'un été) Patrick Roy, Antonello Cozzolino, Brigitte Léveillé, Louise Archambault, Marie Vien Two Days Before Christmas (23 décembre) Patrick Roy, Guillaume Lespérance, Miryam Bouchard, India Desjardins 202426th Quebec Cinema Awards Sisters and Neighbors! (Nos belles-sœurs) Yoann Sauvageau, Denise Robert, René Richard Cyr "Suivez notre couverture en direct du 26e Gala Québec Cinéma". Ici Radio-Canada, December 8, 2024. 1995 Patrick Roy, Marie-Claude Poulin, Ricardo Trogi "Vampire humaniste domine le Gala Québec Cinéma avec 22 nominations". Ici Radio-Canada, October 8, 2024. The Nature of Love (Simple comme Sylvain) Patrick Roy, Monia Chokri, Sylvain Corbeil, Nancy Grant, Elisha Karmitz, Nathanaël Karmitz Ru Patrick Roy, Marie-Alexandra Forget, André Dupuy, Charles-Olivier Michaud, Jacques Davidts Testament Yoann Sauvageau, Denise Robert, Denys Arcand 202527th Quebec Cinema Awards A Christmas Storm (Le Cyclone de Noël) Alain Chicoine, Mia Desroches, Christian Larouche, Sébastien Létourneau, Louis-Philippe Drolet, Louis Morissette, Mélanie Viau, Dominic Anctil, Marie-Élène Grégoire, Louis-Philippe Rivard "Voici la liste des gagnants du Gala Québec Cinéma". TVA Nouvelles, December 7, 2025. Blue Sky Jo (La petite et le vieux) Sonia Despars, Marc Biron, Yoann Sauvageau, Patrice Sauvé, Sébastien Girard "Québec Cinéma dévoile les finalistes aux Prix IRIS 2025". CTVM, October 8, 2025. Compulsive Liar 2 (Menteuse) Patrick Roy, André Dupuy, Marie-Alexandra Forget, Émile Gaudreault, Eric K. Boulianne, Sébastien Ravary Miss Boots (Mlle Bottine) Antonello Cozzolino, Brigitte Léveillé, Dominic James, Patrick Roy, Yan Lanouette Turgeon Shepherds (Bergers) Luc Déry, Kim McCraw, Élaine Hébert, Caroline Bonmarchand, Xenia Sulyma, Chantal Pagé, Sophie Deraspe, Mathyas Lefebure
Multiple wins and nominations
Multiple wins Wins Filmmakers 5 Denise Robert 3 Richard Goudreau Christian Larouche Louis Saia Jeffrey Tinnell 2 Diane England Yan England Roger Frappier Patrick Huard Daniel Louis Jean-François Pouliot Luc Vandal
Three or more nominations Not including the awards prior to the 19th Quebec Cinema Awards: Nominations Filmmakers 9 Denise Robert 8 Patrick Roy 5 Christian Larouche 4 Antonello Cozzolino André Dupuy 3 Louise Archambault Sylvain Corbeil Valérie d'Auteuil Émile Gaudreault Nancy Grant André Rouleau Yoann Sauvageau Ricardo Trogi
See also Golden Screen Award
References