“My Mother” Kills At Fortnight Awards

A scene from "J'ai tue ma mere" (I Killed My Mother) by Xavier Dolan. Image courtesy of the Director's Fortnight.

The 41st edition of Directors’ Fortnight, which ran in Cannes this past week, has announced their winners, with 20 year old Quebecois filmmaker Xavier Dolan’s “J’ai tue ma mere” (I Killed My Mother) sweeping 3 of the 4 prizes, including the 7e Prix Regards Jeunes 2009, the Art Cinema Award, and the SACD Prize. It beat out high-profile US entries including Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tetro,” Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s “I Love You Philip Morris” and Lynn Shelton’s “Humpday.”

The Fortnight’s website describes the film: “Hubert Minel doesn’t love his mother. The 16-year-old haughtily regards her with contempt, and only sees her tacky sweaters, kitsch decorations and the breadcrumbs that get stuck on the corner of her lips when she munches. In addition to these irritating surface details, there is also his parent’s cherished mechanisms of manipulation and guilt. Confused by this love/hate relationship that obsesses him more and more each day, Hubert drifts through the mysteries of an adolescence both marginal and typical - artistic discoveries, illicit experiences, the opening-up to friendship, sex and ostracism.”

The complete list of winners:

Art Cinema Award: 
“J’ai tue ma mere” (I Killed My Mother) by Xavier Dolan (Canada)

Special Mention: “La Merditude des choses” by Felix van Groeningen (Belgique/Belgium)

The Art Cinema Award are given in the major European festivals by an international jury of independent cinema programmers.

7e Prix Regards Jeunes 2009:
“J’ai tue ma mere” (I Killed My Mother) by Xavier Dolan (Canada)

Since 2003, a European jury of seven young cinephiles awards the “Regards Jeunes” Prize to a feature film (first or second feature) in each of the two sidebars : the Directors Fortnight and the International Critics Week.

SACD Prize:
“J’ai tue ma mere” (I Killed My Mother) by Xavier Dolan (Canada)

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SACD (Societe des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques) honors a French-language feature film in the Directors Fortnight selection. This film is chosen by a film commission chaired by Bertrand van Effenterre. The Europa Cinemas Label: “La Pivellina”  by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel (Autriche/Austria) Awarded by a jury comprised of Europa Cinemas member exhibitors to one of the European films selected in the Directors’ Fortnight, the film is given the conditions of reaching a large audience. French Short films prize: ”Montparnasse” (France) SFR honors the most audacious short film from the Director’s Fortnight international selection. It is awarded by a juryof professionals and young directors brought together by SFR, headed this year by Agnes Merlot. Login to recommend this article » posted on May 22, 2009 |Share Login to Leave a Comment »