Xavier Dolan went out of his way to skip the Cannes Film Festival with his previous film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan. We still don't have a U.S. release date for that film.
Dolan's latest release Matthias et Maxime makes its world debut at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The film is about a group of friends in their late-20s. Dolan will be on screen in the new film; his last screen appearance in his films was Tom à la ferme | Tom at the Farm.
Dolan's Cannes success includes the Jury Prize for Mommy and a tie for the Grand Prix for Juste la fin du monde | It's Only the End of the World.
Matthias et Maxime will compete for the Palme d'Or, the top prize at Cannes.
Xavier Dolan is not giving up on Quebec for future films
Xavier Dolan's new film won't debut at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival
Xavier Dolan wins Grand Prix at 2016 Cannes Film Festival
Xavier Dolan wins coveted Cannes Jury Prize for 'Mommy'
Monia Chokri will compete in the Un Certain Regard section with her directorial debut La femme de mon frère | A Brother's Love. Chokri has a connection with Dolan since she was the lead in Les Amours imaginaires | Heartbeats and also appeared in Laurence Anyways. You might have also seen her in Denys Arcand's L'Âge des ténèbres | Days of Darkness and as the female lead in Les Affamés | Ravenous.
The film centers on siblings whose close relationship is torn apart when the brother falls in love.
Chokri is one of 13 female directors in the festival. 4 women are in the main category, tying a festival record set in 2011.
Les Amours imaginaires | Heartbeats won the Regards jeunes prize at Cannes.
Agnès Varda was one of many who protested at last year's festival for slighting female directors. Varda passed away in March at the age of 90. Varda is featured on the official poster of the 2019 festival. The image is from when she filmed her debut film La Pointe Courte (1955).
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Here are the other Canadian-related Cannes presentations:
- Please Speak Continuously and Describe Your Experiences as They Come to You from Brandon Cronenberg under short films, special screenings.
- It Must Be Heaven, a France-Canada co-production in the Palme d'Or category.
- The Lighthouse is a U.S.-Canada co-production with Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson in the Directors' Fortnight section. The movie was shot in Yarmouth and Cape Forchu in Nova Scotia.
The 2019 Cannes Film Festival started yesterday and runs through May 25.
photo credit: Matthias et Maxim film; La femme de mon frère film
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