Marilu Mallet’s Sur les traces de Marguerite Yourcenar (pictured) is to open the 29th edition of Montreal’s International Film Festival of Films on Art on March 17, organizers said Thursday.

Mallet and actors Robert Lalonde and Guylaine Massoutre will attend the screening of the film about the legendary French novelist.

The arts-themed festival will also close on March 26 with Matthew Springford’s The Year of Anish Kapoor, a portrait of the influential sculptor and visual artist.

In all, the 2011 edition will feature 227 films from 22 countries, with four Canadian films in competition, including Mallet’s film.

Also in competition is Jennifer Alleyn’s Dix fois dix, a film about the German painter Otto Dix, Jean-Philippe Dupuis’ Saint-Denys Garneau and Michael Ostroff’s Winds of Heaven: Emily Carr, Carvers and the Spirits of the Forest.