TORONTO -- "Orphan Black" star Tatiana Maslany, Denis Villeneuve's surreal mind-bender "Enemy" and the action adventure tale "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" were among the early winners at the Canadian Screen Awards, which host Martin Short launched with a slew of Rob Ford jokes, barbs at homegrown stars David Cronenberg and George Stroumboulopoulos and a saucy song in which he propositioned a slew of starlets in the audience.

An emotional Maslany was among the first to take the podium Sunday night to claim a trophy for best actress in a TV drama for her sci-fi cloning series.

The Regina-bred actress thanked the Space show's creators for giving her "this incredible opportunity" as well as her co-stars, producers, crew and family for "letting me do this weird job."

"Thank you so much, this is such an honour, thank you," said a breathless Maslany, dressed in a gold and black gown.

Momentum was strong for Maslany's sci-fi clone saga "Orphan Black," which entered the race already having won a leading eight trophies. It's also up for best TV drama against APTN's "Blackstone," Global's "Bomb Girls," and the two CTV series "Flashpoint" and "Motive."

The best TV comedy race is between Priestley's raunchy specialty series "Call Me Fitz," CBC's "Gavin Crawford's Wild West," CBC-TV's "Mr. D," Citytv's "Seed," and Super Channel's "Tiny Plastic Men."

Short said he was thrilled to be back hosting the bash for a second year in a row, noting he was especially glad to be back in Toronto "since you legalized crack" -- a not-so-veiled reference to the well-documented woes of Toronto's mayor.

Short kept the chuckles flowing from a star-studded audience including film star Jay Baruchel, TV veteran Jason Priestley and Viggo Mortensen, praising the combined film and TV gala for allowing small screen stars to "see what real arrogance looks like."

Other early awards went to "Dragons' Den" for best reality series and a best film actor prize to Gabriel Arcand for "Le Demantelement" (The Auction). Arcand beat out international rivals including U.S. actor Jake Gyllenhaal of "Enemy," Brit star Daniel Radcliffe for "The F Word," Ireland's Brendan Gleeson for "The Grand Seduction" and India's Rajesh Tailang for "Siddharth."

Trophies handed out in a pre-telecast gala included cinematography and an original score award for "Enemy," and several technical awards for "The Mortal Instruments" including best overall sound, sound editing, visual effects and makeup.

Villeneuve's surreal film "Enemy" leads the film contenders after racking up 10 nominations including best picture and best director for Villeneuve.

"It's quite a surprise for me," Villeneuve said while walking the red carpet as he discussed the multiple noms for his surreal mind-bender, which hits theatres in Canada and the U.S. on Friday.

"I didn't know the movie would be eligible, that they would allow my movie to be part of this year's awards. I thought it would be for next year because the movie is going to be released in a week but at the same time the timing is a bit stunning. It's perfect timing because now there's a lot of press on the film."

The best picture race is especially packed this year with a whopping eight nominees, including: Sebastien Pilote's "Le Demantelement" (The Auction), Peter Stebbings's "Empire of Dirt," Michael Dowse's "The F Word," Louise Archambault's "Gabrielle," Don McKellar's "The Grand Seduction," Michel Poulette's "Maina," and Xavier Dolan's "Tom at the Farm."

Villeneuve notes the list includes a healthy Quebec contingent, and says he was glad to be among pals.

"They are not rivals, they are friends," he says, singling out Archambault as an especially close colleague.

"Louise Archambault is a very close friend of mine. I love her, I love her film, I was deeply touched by 'Gabrielle' and I wish her all the best."

Maslany was a rare performer to compete for acting prizes in both TV and film categories. She's also up for best film actress for the road movie "Cas & Dylan," directed by Priestley.

The nominations cap a remarkable first season for the Space smash "Orphan Black," which has made an international star out of the 28-year-old.

Priestley gushed over Maslany's success, saying all the attention is well-deserved.

"She's an incredible talent and I feel very fortunate to have had her in my film," Priestley said on the red carpet.

"We actually had to push production on the film so she could do her screen test for 'Orphan Black.' We were right there with her when she got the news that she actually got the role on that show that has been so transformative in her career, in her life."

So far, the chameleon-like Maslany has played seven clones with vastly different personalities and accents on the dark serial, which airs on BBC America in the United States.

The feat earned her a best actress nomination at January's Golden Globe Awards where she rubbed shoulders with Hollywood celebs including show co-host Amy Poehler.

Season 2 of "Orphan Black" debuts April 19 on Space.