The breakout movie from a rising Montreal director has been chosen as Canada's bid for an Oscar in the best foreign-language film category.

Telefilm says it chose Xavier Dolan's wrenching family drama, "I Killed my Mother,'' ("J'ai tue ma mere'') from 18 eligible films.

It's the latest accolade for the 20-year-old Dolan, who wrote, directed and stars in the semi-autobiographical tale that drew raves at Cannes earlier this year.

The movie made its English Canada debut at the Toronto International Film Festival last week, eliciting rare applause from a private press and industry screening that preceded the public premiere. At the time, Dolan admitted that the mounting praise only made him more nervous about a wider release.

"You don't want to disappoint anyone and sometimes you fear that people are going to see the flick and say, 'What's the fuss all about?' '' Dolan said.

"Europeans and English Canadians are not necessarily always on the same wavelength so it's like you start from zero every time _ Cannes was something, Toronto is another thing and I just have my fingers crossed, I just hope the people will love it.''

Already decorated

The coming-of-age film took three prizes at Cannes, including the Art Cinema Award, the Regards Jeunes for first-time directors and the SACD Prize, recognizing the best French-language film.

It's now slated for release in English Canada in January and in the United States in February.

Ninety-six countries have been invited to submit their top film for Academy Award consideration.

A final list of five foreign-language films will be announced when the Oscar nominations are revealed on Feb. 2, 2010, with the hardware handed out March 7.

Semi-autobiographical

Heavily drawn from Dolan's own experiences, "I Killed My Mother'' focuses on the turbulent emotions of 16-year-old Hubert Minel and his explosive clashes with his mother, played by Anne Dorval. Their constant bickering ranges from the comically trivial to the agonizingly hurtful, with an anguished Dolan at one point lying that his mother had died in order to get out of a school assignment that would have involved her.

Canadian foreign language films that have snagged nominations in the past include Deepa Mehta's "Water,'' in 2006, and three films by Denys Arcand, including 1986's "The Decline of the American Empire,'' 1989's "Jesus of Montreal,'' and 2003's "The Barbarian Invasions,'' which won the award.