Quebec filmmaker Philippe Falardeau says he screamed and leapt into his producer's arms when he learned his tender dramedy "Monsieur Lazhar" nabbed an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film Tuesday.
The writer-director got the news from an online broadcast of the Oscars press conference, which had him so rattled he said he turned away from the computer screen until he heard the word "Canada" and erupted with excitement.
Minutes later, he struggled to describe a torrent of emotions.
"Every time I watch a hockey player trying to describe his feelings after winning the Stanley Cup he looks stupid," Falardeau said from the Sundance Film Festival where he was promoting the film with producers Luc Dery and Kim McCraw.
"Because it is indescribable and unbelievable."
"Monsieur Lazhar," about an Algerian immigrant who helps a group of Montreal elementary students grapple with the sudden death of their teacher, has been a smash on the festival circuit and earned Falardeau a spot on Variety magazine's directors to watch in 2012 list.
It's up against Belgium's "Bullhead," Israel's "Footnote," Poland's "In Darkness" and Iran's "A Separation," which won the Golden Globe for best foreign-language film earlier this month.
"In Darkness" is a Canada-Poland-German co-production written by Toronto's David Shamoon and produced by Canadians Eric Jordan and Paul Stephens. It hits select Canadian theatres Feb. 17.
Shamoon joked that Falardeau is turning into his main awards rival, since both productions are also up for Genie Awards, Canada's version of the Oscars.
"It's almost beyond our expectation," Shamoon said of the nomination for "In Darkness," set in Nazi-occupied Poland and based on a true story about a worker who hides a group of Jewish men, women and children in the sewers.
"It's like a fairy tale."
Other Canadians vying for Oscar trophies include stage and screen legend Christopher Plummer, who scored a best supporting actor nomination for "Beginners," composer Howard Shore for his work on "Hugo," the National Film Board of Canada shorts "Wild Life" and "Sunday" and sound mixer David Giammarco for his work on "Moneyball."
Ryan Gosling, a hopeful for standout turns in the political thriller "The Ides of March," the stylish noir "Drive" and the comedy "Crazy, Stupid, Love," was shut out.
Martin Scorsese's 3D adventure "Hugo" leads the nominees overall with 11 nods, while France's silent tribute to old Hollywood "The Artist" nabbed 10.
It's the second year in a row a Quebec filmmaker is vying for an Academy Award.
Last year, Denis Villeneuve was in the running in the foreign-language film category for his war drama "Incendies," also produced by Dery and McCraw.
Falardeau says Villeneuve sent him and the producers a text Monday that said simply: "Good night and good luck."
Falardeau added that he'll be asking Villeneuve if he can borrow his tuxedo for the glitzy Oscar bash next month.
"I'm going to have to ask him how (tall) he is and what's his measurement because I don't have a tux and I don't really like tuxes," he said.
"But I said to my girlfriend this morning that she could go shop for a new dress."
Past Canadian productions that have competed for the best foreign-language film trophy include Deepa Mehta's "Water" in 2006, and three films by Denys Arcand, "The Decline of the American Empire" in 1986, "Jesus of Montreal" in 1989 and "The Barbarian Invasions," which won the coveted award in 2003.
Falardeau, whose film opens in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg this weekend, said he's never dreamt of success in Hollywood.
"I was never Oscar-bound in my mind in my life so it's not something I'd given any thought," he said, adding that he's heartened to know that his intimate film can be recognized by the biggest film gala in the world.
"I think it says a lot about the fact that we have to make the movies that we have inside of us and not try to imitate any kind of recipe. This is a dream that I never imagine I would have, that is realizing itself.
"I never gave myself the permission to have that dream and there I am this morning knowing that we will be going with Luc Dery and Kim McCraw, my two friends and producers, to the Oscars."
The Oscars will be handed out Feb. 26.
