The 11th annual Genie Awards were presented March 20, 1990 and honoured Canadian films released the previous year. For the first time ever the awards were broadcast by CTV, rather than CBC. Despite an extensive advertising campaign the ratings plummeted with only half as many people watching compared to the previous year. In total an average of only 460,000 watched the awards. The awards themsleves were dominated by Denys Arcand's Jesus of Montreal.

Best picture

Winner: Jésus de Montréal, Roger Frappier and Pierre Gendron

Other Nominees:

• Bye Bye Blues , Arvi Liimatainen and Anne Wheeler
• Cold Comfort , Ray Sager and Ilana Frank
• Speaking Parts , Atom Egoyan
• Termini Station , Allan King

Best actor

Winner: Lothaire Bluteau , Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• Maury Chaykin , Cold Comfort
• Michel Côté , Cruising Bar
• Michael McManus, Speaking Parts
• Stephen Ouimette, The Top of His Head

Best actress

Winner: Rebecca Jenkins, Bye Bye Blues

Other Nominees:

• Margaret Langrick , Cold Comfort
• Catherine Wilkening , Jésus de Montréal
• Gabrielle Rose , Speaking Parts
• Colleen Dewhurst, Termini Station
• Megan Follows, Termini Station

Best supporting actor

Winner: Rémy Girard, Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• Michael Ontkean , Bye Bye Blues
• Wayne Robson , Bye Bye Blues
• Gilles Pelletier , Jésus de Montréal
• Don McKellar, Roadkill

Best supporting actress

Winner: Robyn Stevan , Bye Bye Blues

Other Nominees:

• Pauline Martin , Jésus de Montréal
• Johanne-Marie Tremblay , Jésus de Montréal

Best director

Winner: Denys Arcand, Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• Anne Wheeler , Bye Bye Blues
• François Bouvier and Jean Beaudry , Les Matins infidèles
• Atom Egoyan, Speaking Parts
• John N. Smith , Welcome to Canada

Original screenplay

Winner: Denys Arcand, Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• Anne Wheeler , Bye Bye Blues
• Don McKellar, Roadkill
• Atom Egoyan, Speaking Parts
• Colleen Murphy , Termini Station
• Peter Mettler , The Top of His Head

Adapted screenplay

Winner: Elliot L. Sims and Richard Beattie , Cold Comfort

Other Nominees:

• Dany Laferrière and Richard Sadler , Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer
• John Varley, Millennium

Cinematography

Winner: Guy Dufaux , Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• Pierre Mignot , Cruising Bar
• Richard Leiterman , The First Season
• René Ohashi , Millennium

Art direction/production design

Winner: François Séguin , Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• John Blackie , Bye Bye Blues
• Reuben Freed , Palais Royale

Costume design

Winner: Louise Jobin , Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• Maureen Hiscox , Bye Bye Blues
• Louise Labrecque , Cruising Bar
• Martha Wynne Snetsinger , The Last Winter
• Olga Dimitrov , Millennium
• Katherine Vieira , Palais Royale

Sound

Winner: Patrick Rousseau , Adrian Croll , Hans Peter Strobl , and Jocelyn Caron , Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• Paul Massey , Peter Kelly , and Garrell Clark , Bye Bye Blues
• Don White , Marvin Berns , Paul Coombe , and Douglas Ganton , Millennium
• Sal Grimaldi , Joe Grimaldi , Dino Pigat , and Peter Shewchuk , Termini Station

Film editing

Winner: Isabelle Dedieu , Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• Christopher Tate , Bye Bye Blues
• Frank Irvine , The First Season

Sound editing

Winner: Marcel Pothier , Laurent Lévy , Antoine Morin , and Diane Boucher , Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• Alan Hardiman , Terry Burke , Barry Backus , Jim Hopkins , and Ingrid Rosen , American Boyfriends
• Alison Fisher , Penny Hozy , Bruno DeGazio , Peter Thilaye , and Alison Grace , Bye Bye Blues
• Paul Dion , Dans le ventre du dragon
• Alan Hardiman , Robin Leigh , Jim Hopkins , Penny Hozy , and Terry Burke , Millennium
• Terry Burke , David Templeton , Ralph Brunjes , and Brian Ravok , Termini Station

Musical score

Winner: Yves Laferrière , Jésus de Montréal

Other Nominees:

• Milan Kymlicka ,
• Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna , Cold Comfort
• Lawrence Shragge , Palais Royale
• Mychael Danna , Speaking Parts

Animated short

Winner: Juke-Bar , Martin Barry

Nominees: The Dingles , William Pettigrew In and Out , Alison Snowden and David Fine

Live action short

Winner: In Search of the Last Good Man , Peg Campbell and Peggy Thompson

Other Nominees:

• The Journey Home , Mary Armstrong
• Monster in the Coal Bin , Tracy Traeger , Ellen Rutter , and Allen Schinkel
• Multiple Choice , Debbie McGee
• Odyssey in August , Leonard Farlinger and Stephen Roscoe

Short documentary

Winner: Stunt People , Lois Siegel

Other Nominees:

• Reading Between the Lines , Martha Davis
• Who Gets In? , Barry Greenwald

Documentary

Winner: Strand, Under the Dark Cloth , John Walker

Other Nominees:

• Le Trou du diable , Richard Lavoie , François Dupuis , and Marc Daigle
• White Lake , Colin Browne