Oscars: Canada Picks 'Mommy' for Foreign-Language Category

Quebecois director Dolan has the strange distinction of being at once a wunderkind (he's still just 25) and a Cannes veteran. Mommy is his first competition entry but marks his fourth visit to Cannes, following the Critics' Week bow for his 2009 debut I Killed My Mother and Un Certain Regard entries Heartbeats and Laurence Anyways. The plotline of Mommy is pure Dolan, focusing on the mother-son relationship, in this case a widowed single mom raising her violent son alone who finds new hope when a mysterious neighbor inserts herself between the two, resulting in unforeseen consequences. (Sales: eOne)

Xavier Dolan's family drama shared this year's Cannes Jury Prize with Jean-Luc Godard's 'Adieu au Langage'

Canada has chosen writer-director Xavier Dolan's Cannes award winner Mommy as its contender in the best foreign-language film category at the Academy Awards.

The family drama shared the Jury Prize with Jean-Luc Godard's Adieu au Langage after debuting in Cannes. The Canadian film portrays a feisty widow, played by Anne Dorval, trying to cope with a problem son (Antoine-Olivier Pilon).

Roadside Attractions grabbed the U.S. distribution rights to Mommy. Canada's national Oscar selection committee, led by Telefilm Canada, unveiled its pick at a Montreal press conference on Friday.

Canadian French-language films have fared well at the Academy Awards in recent years, with Denis Villeneuve's Incendies and Philippe Falardeau's Monsieur Lazhar both earning Oscar nominations in the best foreign-language category.