Writer, director and actor Paul Gross wades through a shell crater on the battlefield set of his film Passchendaele, which was filmed near Calgary in 2007.Writer, director and actor Paul Gross wades through a shell crater on the battlefield set of his film Passchendaele, which was filmed near Calgary in 2007. ((Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

Passchendaele, the First World War drama directed by Paul Gross, is the winner of the Golden Reel Award, one of three special prizes to be handed out by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (ACCT).

The ACCT also announced two other special trophies Monday evening that will be given out at the 29th annual Genie Awards on April 4 in Ottawa.

The Golden Reel is handed to the Canadian film with the highest domestic box office receipts. Passchendaele brought in more than $4.4 million.

Passchendaele recounts an epic battle by Canadian soldiers, who drove back the German army in a brutal 12-day offensive across marshland to take the Belgian village of Passchendaele.

Some 16,000 Canadians were killed or wounded.

Gross, known for his acting role in the TV series Due South as well as the movie Men With Brooms, produced the feature along with Niv Fichman, Frank Siracusa and Francis Damberger.

The other major award announced was the Claude Jutra prize for a directorial debut. The winner of the 16th annual award is Yves-Christian Fournier for Tout Est Parfait (Everything is Fine ).

The prize is named in honour of the renowned late Quebec director Claude Jutra.

Fournier's dark movie delves into the world of a teen living in a suburb whose friends have killed themselves.

The last prize is for outstanding achievement in makeup design.

Bruno Gatien, Marie-France Guy and Adrien Morot will share the accolade for their work in Cruising Bar2, directed by Robert Ménard and Michel Côté.

The trio created prosthetics and tattoo work for Côté, who played four characters in the movie.