Xavier Dolan has chosen Venice over Cannes to premiere his new film, Tom à la ferme, and has been rewarded with a spot in official competition. A Quebec film hasn’t vied for the Venice International Film Festival’s coveted Leone d’Oro (Golden Lion) in 25 years.
Though it is being framed as a choice of a different festival for a different kind of film, Dolan’s switch of allegiances can be seen as a slight to Cannes. The French festival overlooked his last film Laurence Anyways for its official competition last year, again relegating the director to the Un Certain Regard section.
At the time, the outspoken Dolan had complained about once more being relegated to a minor category at Cannes (his previous film, Les amours imaginaires, had been selected for Un Certain Regard in 2010, and his debut J’ai tué ma mère was part of the Directors’s Fortnight in 2009).
“The Venice Film Festival is oldest film festival in the world, and I’m honoured that they have chosen my film,” Dolan, 24, said in a statement. “It’s a prestigious, impressive and elegant showcase.”
Dolan’s film will be up against Hayao Miyazaki’s Kaze Tachinu, Stephen Frears’s Philomena, Merzak Allouache’s Es-Stouh (The Rooftops), Amos Gitai’s Ana Arabia and Errol Morris’s The Unknown Known: the Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld, among others.
Quebec films have been shown at Venice in recent years – including Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies, Jean-Marc Vallée’s C.R.A.Z.Y. and Café de flore, and Guy Édoin’s Marécages – but never in official competition. The last Quebec film to accomplish the feat was Léa Pool’s À corps perdu, in 1988.
“Despite a tradition in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Quebec’s presence in competition in Venice has declined over time, and I am thrilled and touched at the idea of Tom à la ferme being the film to renew that relationship,” Dolan said.
Reportedly less lavish and expressionistic than his other films, Tom à la ferme is a psychological thriller based on the play by Michel-Marc Bouchard, who co-wrote the script with the director. It stars Dolan, Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Lise Roy and Evelyne Brochu in the story of a gay man who attends his lover’s funeral, only to learn than none of the man’s friends or family know of him, or were aware of his ex’s homosexuality.
The 70th Venice Film Festival takes place Aug. 28 to Sept. 7.
***
It’s been a big week for Quebec cinema. On Tuesday, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) announced that Villeneuve’s Prisoners and Vallée’s Dallas Buyers Club will premiere as part of its high-profile Special Presentations category.
The films mark the Hollywood inductions of both directors. Prisoners is a thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman, Maria Bello and Paul Dano; while Dallas Buyers Club stars Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto in the true story of AIDS activist Ron Woodruff.
TIFF runs Sept. 5 to 15.
tdunlevy@montrealgazette.com
Twitter: @tchadunlevy
