Telefilm Canada announced today (September 23) in Montreal that celebrated Québécois filmmaker Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde) will be Canada's official submission for the best foreign-language film Oscar category in the 89^th Academy Awards.

The film scored the Grand Prix and Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Cannes.

Dolan's cinematic adaptation of the stageplay Juste la fin du monde by French playwright Jean-Luc Lagarce tells the story of a young writer who returns to his family home after a 12-year absence to tell them about his terminal illness.

The cast boasts a lineup of critically acclaimed French actors including Marion Cotillard (Inception), Vincent Cassel (Black Swan), Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour), Gaspard Ulliel (Saint Laurent), and Nathalie Baye (Catch Me If You Can).

This will be the third time that Dolan will represent Canada in this category at the Oscars.

His debut 2009 feature I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) and his 2014 film Mommy were previously chosen as Canada's official submissions.

Québécois filmmaker Denys Arcand was previously nominated for the award three times: The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain) in 1987, Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal) in 1990, and The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares), which won the award in 2004.

Other past Canadian nominations in the category include Deepa Mehta’s Water in 2007; Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies in 2011; Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar and Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness (a coproduction with Poland and Germany) in 2012; and Kim Nguyen’s War Witch (Rebelle) in 2013. 

The 89th Academy Awards will be held on February 26, 2017.