An adaptation of the Canadian novel Life of Pi has an early lead at the 85th Academy Awards.
The movie, which was largely filmed on a Montreal soundstage, won for Cinematography and Visual Effects.
Among those claiming a golden statue for Visual Effects was Vancouver-based Guillaume Rocheron.
Toronto composer Mychael Danna is heavily favoured to win the Oscar for Original Score for his work on Life of Pi.
The film, directed by Ang Lee, is based on the novel by Yann Martel.
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The night’s first award was handed out to Christoph Waltz, who won Best Actor for his role in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. Waltz won an Oscar in 2010 for Inglorious Basterds, also directed by Tarantino.
In the Animated Feature category, Brave was the victor. Paperman won Animated Short Film.
Oscars were also handed out to Les Miserables (Makeup and Hairstyling) and Anna Karenina (Costume Design).
Montreal’s Ariel Nasr (Buzhkashi Boys), Toronto’s Mino Jarjoura (Asad) and Montreal’s Yan England (Henry) all failed to collect the Oscar for Live Action Short Film, which went to Curfew.
The Best Foreign Language Film award went to Austria’s Amour, beating Rebelle (War Witch) from Quebec director Kim Nguyen.
The Documentary Short Subject honour went to Inocente. Searching for Sugar Man won Documentary Feature.
The opening sequence of the Academy Awards show at the Dolby Theatre featured host Seth MacFarlane getting advice from Canadian actor William Shatner in character as Capt. James T. Kirk.
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