Cannes film fest sidebars tap Quebec filmmakers

More Canadians are headed to the Cannes International Film Festival this spring, as organizers unveiled today the lineup for the Directors' Fortnight program.

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Quebec filmmakers Marie-Jose Saint-Pierre and Stphane Lafleur will bring their latest projects to the famed cinema showcase taking place May 15-25 in Cannes.

The Directors' Fortnight is an independent, sidebar program that runs alongside the official Cannes competition. Its top prize is the Camra d'Or and it is the program is where Canadian titles such as Denis Villeneuve's Polytechniqueand Xavier Dolan's J'ai tu ma mre (I Killed My Mother) initially made a splash on the international scene.

Writer-director Lafleur will make his first-ever visit to the fest with Tu Dors Nicole, which will compete in the feature competition category.

Produced by successful Quebec firm Micro_scope, the humorous coming-of-age story set against a summer heatwave was shot in black and white.

Saint-Pierre will screen Jutra, co-produced with the National Film Board of Canada, as part of the shorts competition.

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Her 13-minute production weaves together archival footage of Claude Jutra himself with animated sequences for a distinctive portrait of the iconic Quebec filmmaker behind the Canadian classic Mon Oncle Antoine.

Organizers also added a host of award-winning filmmakers to the bill, including:

• U.K. director John Boorman, for Queen and Country.
• French director Bruno Dumont, for Li'l Quinquin.
• U.K. director Matthew Warchus, for Pride.
• U.S. director Jim MIckle, for Cold in July.
• Japanese director Isao Takahata, for Tale of Princess Kaguya.

French actress and filmmaker Nicole Garcia heads this year's jury for the Directors' Fortnight competition, which includes 18 features and 11 shorts from around the globe this year.

The program will also feature a special screening of the newly restored print of the horror film classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Meanwhile, the international critics' week sidebar has added the short film Little Brother (Petit frre) by Quebec's Rmi St-Michel.