The 1st Genie Awards were presented on March 20, 1980, and honoured films released in 1979. They were given out at a gala event at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto with Bruno Gerussi as host. Awards for non-feature films were presented at a luncheon the day before the gala. The 1980 ceremonies were the first time the awards were presented as the Genie Awards instead of the Canadian Film Awards, and the first time they were presented by the newly organized Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.