Skinny Bottines heads to Cannes as sole 100% Canadian film in Semaine de la Critique
Romain F. Dubois’s short film Skinny Bottines, the only 100% Canadian title at Cannes this year, will screen in the Semaine de la Critique and compete for the Discovery prize.
Romain F. Dubois will walk the Croisette this week as director of Skinny Bottines, a short film chosen for the Cannes Film Festival’s Semaine de la Critique. The selection marks the only fully Canadian production included in that sidebar’s lineup, and the film is in contention for the section’s Discovery prize. The nomination positions Dubois and his team on a global stage after years of work in Montreal’s music-video scene.
Cannes selection and competition
The Semaine de la Critique screening puts Skinny Bottines in competition with nine other short and mid-length films for a monetary Discovery award. The prize includes a grant that has been advertised at several thousand euros, offering both recognition and funding to emerging filmmakers. For Dubois, a 32-year-old cineaste who built his craft directing music videos, the slot represents a notable career milestone and international exposure.
The announcement surprised the director, who said the news arrived in a confidential email that left him “tombé des nues.” His producers had kept the project’s shortlist status to shield him from stress, and the formal confirmation prompted an emotional response from the small creative team. The Cannes selection amplifies attention on the film’s craft and the Montreal community that helped bring it to the festival.
Plot, stakes and the title’s secret
Skinny Bottines centers on Dan, a deft pickpocket whose life unravels over the course of a single day. After betraying his former partner’s trust and incurring a debt, Dan is forced to repay what he owes within 24 hours. With no accomplice available, he enlists his teenage cousin Pinpin, who has been left in his care for the day, and the story follows the tension, improvisation and consequences that follow.
Dubois intentionally keeps the meaning of the film’s title under wraps, saying that a specific shot in the movie reveals its significance. That restraint is part of the director’s strategy: to let an attentive viewing reward the audience with connections that become clear only within the film’s visual and narrative rhythm. The plot’s compressed timeframe and moral pressure are presented through a character-driven, observational lens.
From Montreal music videos to narrative shorts
Dubois’s path to Cannes was forged in Montreal’s vibrant music-video community, where he honed a visual approach he describes as cinematic from the outset. He studied cinema at Cégep de Saint-Laurent but developed much of his craft on set with local artists, collaborating on videos for acts such as Dead Obies, Brown and CRi. Those projects functioned as miniature films for him, informing both tone and pacing in his longer work.
The director has acknowledged that a previous music video — CRi’s “Losing My Mind” — contains an early incarnation of Dan, the protagonist of Skinny Bottines. That continuity underscores an artistic throughline: Dubois has steadily expanded an aesthetic universe across formats, moving from tightly framed music storytelling to a narrative short that retains the kinetic energy of his earlier work.
Shooting in Montreal on 16 mm film
Montreal itself is a central character in Skinny Bottines, filmed largely in the downtown core and captured on 16 mm celluloid. Dubois and his team deliberately chose film stock to convey texture and physicality; he says the grain and tactile qualities of 16 mm make surfaces such as brick, snow and asphalt feel alive on screen. The production shot in harsh winter conditions, with temperatures near -20°C, in an effort to register the city’s seasonal toughness.
The aesthetic nods to 1970s New York cinema, a deliberate influence the director acknowledges, and the analog medium amplifies that connection. The choice of 16 mm reinforces the film’s documentary-adjacent realism while delivering a distinct visual signature uncommon in contemporary short films shot digitally.
Casting and a search for unpredictability
The principal role of Dan is played by Dominic Roustam, an actor Dubois says he met by chance on the street. That serendipitous encounter fits the director’s casting philosophy, which privileges unpredictable energy and the possibility of a scene tipping into volatility. Dubois sought performers who could feel on the verge of breaking open, a quality he believes heightens the immediacy of dramatic moments.
The character of Pinpin, the adolescent cousin, is drawn from real-life encounters and observations that fed the screenplay, including the director’s memories of neighbourhood families and cross-cultural ties. Those grounded details contribute to the film’s sense of lived-in specificity, anchoring a tightly plotted day-long crisis in recognizable social textures.
Cannes as a springboard for feature ambitions
Beyond festival recognition, Dubois sees Cannes as leverage for larger projects. He has publicly expressed intent to move into feature filmmaking and says he currently has several long-form projects in development. A high-profile festival presentation can attract producers, distributors and financiers, and the exposure from Semaine de la Critique may accelerate those conversations.
For the Montreal film community, a fully Canadian selection at Cannes is both symbolic and practical: it highlights local talent and demonstrates that small-scale, auteur-driven projects can compete on an international circuit. If Skinny Bottines secures the Discovery prize or generates industry buzz, the ripple effects could include opportunities for the film’s cast and crew and increased interest in similarly positioned Canadian shorts.
The film’s screening at Cannes will be watched closely by peers and supporters back in Montreal, where Dubois and his collaborators intend to celebrate the achievement while remaining pragmatic about next steps. As he has said, his immediate aim is to enjoy the festival with his team and to use the moment as a platform for future work.
