Buble and Lantos among winners of Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards

MONTREAL – Robert Lantos remembers trying to secure a theatrical release for his first movie, only to have a booking agent dismiss it without watching it.

“I said, ‘You haven’t seen the movie,’ and he said, ‘I don’t have to, it’s Canadian,’” recalled Lantos, a veteran TV and film producer who is among the recipients of this year’s Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.

The film he was promoting at the time, George Kaczender’s 1978 feature “In Praise of Older Women,” went on to be a hit both in Canada and abroad, but Lantos said he never forgot the agent’s words.

“That was a very important moment because it got me really, really riled up, and I said, ‘I’m going to show you,’” said Lantos, 67, whose dozens of film credits include the Oscar-nominated “The Sweet Hereafter” and “Barney’s Version,” as well as “Eastern Promises.”

Lantos and six other winners of this year’s performing arts awards were announced at a news conference in Montreal on Thursday.

Juno-winning Inuk singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark, dance choreographer Marie Chouinard, tenor Ben Heppner and children’s playwright Suzanne Lebeau will receive lifetime artistic achievement awards, along with Lantos.

Philanthropist John D. McKellar will receive the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts and pop singer Michael Buble will receive the National Arts Centre Award.

Lantos said that in the nearly three decades following his conversation with the theatre representative, Canadian filmmakers have produced some of the most celebrated independent films in the world, with Academy Award nominations and Cannes film festival prizes to prove it.

“I think history has proven him wrong,” he said.

Buble said from Los Angeles that Canada has one of the highest number of artists per capita, allowing it to punch above its weight when it comes to artistic achievement.

In an interview, the B.C.-born singer said while some people in the entertainment industry try to cut down and criticize successful artists, the Canadian community in comparison is more supportive.

“Canadians really pull for Canadians,” he said. “The support I’ve gotten from my home country is astounding.”

The award Buble is receiving recognizes exceptional recent work by a performing artist.

Buble, 40, has 11 Juno awards and four Grammys to his credit.

He said it was “an incredible honour” to be presented the Governor General’s award “alongside people I admire.”

The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards were founded in 1992 and are given to Canadians whose accomplishments are deemed to have inspired and enriched the country.

A gala honouring this year’s recipients will be held at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on June 11.