Quebec short film ‘Invincible’ nominated at the Oscars

The short film Invincible, by Quebec director Vincent René-Lortie, has been selected as a finalist for the Oscars.

Invincible is officially nominated in the Best Live Action Short Film category with four other finalists, including The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Wes Anderson with Benedict Cumberbatch and Ben Kingsley.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the finalists in all categories Tuesday ahead of the ceremony in March.

Inspired by the true story of René-Lortie’s childhood friend, the 30-minute film reflects on the last 48 hours of the life of Marc-Antoine Bernier – played by Léokim Beaumier-Lépine – depicting the 14-year-old boy on a desperate quest for freedom.

“I also decided to start the film with the tragedy, with the death of that friend. Because for me, the film wasn’t about that. It was about the character itself. It was about what he was going through. It wasn’t about how he passed away and how tragic that event was. It was a long process of like writing and rewriting. And the fact that I was with these friends that I met previously, they challenged me all the time, and they helped me to bring that project to life,” said René-Lortie.

Invincible has already won the Iris Prize for Best Quebec Short Fiction Film and the Special Jury Prize at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival.

It qualified for the Oscars by winning the award for best short fiction film at the Chicago Youth Film Festival.

In a press release, Vincent René-Lortie said it was a childhood dream come true.

“It’s a great rush of emotion for us today. We could never have hoped that one day our film would be nominated for an Oscar,” he said. “We feel very privileged to have been chosen by the Academy from among all the excellent films this year. And above all, a huge thank you above all to everyone who has encouraged the film since its inception.

“I went into Concordia University where I studied film production for three years. And that’s where I really kind of, you know, I built some very strong friendships with actually people that worked on Invincible,” he added.

Montreal distribution company h264 is heading to the Oscars for a second time after being nominated for the short fiction films Fauve by Jeremy Comte and Marguerite by Marianne Farley in 2019.

The h264 team expressed their gratitude for being nominated in the Best Dramatic Short category.

“We want to acknowledge the work of the entire team at h264, our various collaborators as well as Vincent and Samuel, with whom we’ve worked tirelessly over the past few months. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this outstanding achievement.”

Philippe Falardeau, who received an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language film category for Monsieur Lazhar in 2011, lent his support to Vincent René-Lortie’s film in his pre-selection campaign.

René-Lortie says the real joy is spreading the word about mental health.

“I made a very, very personal story that happened to be very universal at the end of the day. I think that a lot of people could connect with that story and with what Marc, the character of the film, what he was going through,” said René-Lortie.

“In the eyes of the society, he was seen as like a delinquent, someone who was just a bad child. And the truth is that he was just going through some deep emotional things. People either were like Marc when they were kids or we knew people like him and really felt like they somehow could really connect with the film.”

An important takeaway Vincent hopes will resonate with audiences. The idea that sometimes bad behaviour is really a cry for help. Meanwhile, as he prepares for Hollywood.

“I just want to enjoy the ride right now and, and so my hope is that I is actually have fun in the next few weeks,” said René-Lortie. “If I can finish on a happy note it’s really too like that this is all I dreamed for and now this is just kind of like the rest is about sharing the movie with the world.”

The 96th Academy Awards ceremony will be held March 10 in Los Angeles.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews