Quebec film Invincible, by director Vincent René-Lortie was selected among the five finalists for the Oscar for best short fiction film.
• Also read: Where we come from: Quebec filmmaker Meryam Joobeur in competition at the Berlinale
The Academy of Oscars announced this on Tuesday morning when unveiling the nominations for the prestigious ceremony, which will take place in Hollywood in March.
The short film from Quebec is in competition with the film “The Marvelous Story of Henry Sugar” by famous American filmmaker Wes Anderson.
“It is a great wave of emotions that we are feeling today. We could never have hoped that our film would one day be nominated for an Oscar. We can say that it is a childhood dream come true and we feel blessed to have been selected by the Academy among all the outstanding films of this year,” said director Vincent René-Lortie and producer Samuel Caron in a press release.
Inspired by a true story, Invincible looks back on the last 48 hours in the life of Marc-Antoine Bernier, a 14-year-old boy confronted with his crying need for freedom.
Starring Léokim Beaumier-Lépine, Élia St-Pierre, Isabelle Blais and Pierre-Luc Brillant, the film has already shone at several festivals around the world, including the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (where it won the Special Prize). the International Jury), the REGARD Festival (Grand Jury Prize) and the Portuguese festival Curtas Vila do Conde.
“Invincibles” also won the best short feature award at the Québec Cinéma gala last month. A few weeks ago, director Philippe Falardeau, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2012 for his film Monsieur Lazhar, announced his support for the Quebec short film in his campaign for an Oscar nomination.
In recent years, several short films from Quebec received Oscar nominations, including Fauve by Jeremy Comte (2019), Marguerite by Marianne Farley (2019) and Brotherhood by Meryam Joobeur (2020).
“Invincible” isn’t the only Canadian film to receive an Oscar nomination this year. The feature film To Kill a Tiger, a National Film Board (NFB) co-production directed by Toronto-based Nisha Pahuja, has secured a place among the five finalists for the Best Documentary Award.
The 96th Academy Awards will take place on March 10 in Hollywood.