TORONTO - Quebec's filmmaking phenom Xavier Dolan has snagged a $5,000 Toronto film critics' prize for his searing mother-son tale, "I Killed My Mother."
Dolan's publicist says from Montreal that the 20-year-old filmmaker is the inaugural winner of the Jay Scott Prize for emerging talent, to be handed out by the Toronto Film Critics Association on Tuesday.
The presentation will be part of a gala dinner in Toronto recognizing the association's favourite films of 2009.
Filmmaker David Cronenberg will present a $10,000 prize to the winner of the Rogers Best Canadian Feature Award.
The three pictures nominated are: "The Necessities of Life," directed by Benoit Pilon; "Polytechnique," directed by Denis Villeneuve; and "Pontypool," directed by Bruce McDonald.
Dolan's film, "I Killed My Mother," has been a hit on the festival circuit and opens in Toronto on Feb. 5.
