Xavier Dolan’s I Killed My Mother is taking a run at the Oscars. The acclaimed film has been submitted for consideration to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, putting it in the very early running for the foreign-language prize along with some 96 other submissions from around the world.

The picture, which has been collecting accolades on the festival circuit since Cannes, was on Tuesday named by Telefilm Canada as the country’s official Oscar hopeful, picked from among 18 eligible films. Telefilm leads a committee of 25 organizations — associations, provincial funders and the like — that make the choice.

‘A Canadian film in the race for the Oscars provides outstanding exposure for Canadian productions among domestic as well as international audiences,’ said Telefilm’s Sheila de La Varende in a statement. ‘We applaud the precious work accomplished over the past few weeks by the selection committee, which gathers together industry representatives from all regions of Canada.’

The film charts the conflicted relationship of a teen boy and his mother.

The final five nominees will be named by the Academy on Feb. 2, leading into the 82nd annual awards on March 7.

The Academy typically reveals a short list of potential nominees in January, which last year included Benoît Pilon’s The Necessities of Life. The only Canadian film to ever win the best foreign-language Oscar was Denys Arcand’s Les invasions barbares in 2003.