Herd Leader (Chef de Meute), from Quebec filmmaker Chloe Robichaud (pictured) has been named as a short film selection for the 65th Cannes Film Festival.

Festival organizers on Tuesday announced the selections for the Cinéfondation and short films competition, ahead of Thursday’s big unveiling of the 2012 lineup.

Herd Leader, about a young woman whose solitary life is changed after she inherits her aunt’s pet following her aunt’s sudden death, will compete for the 2012 Short Film Palme d’Or.

The top short film prize will be awarded during the festival’s closing ceremony by a jury this year headed up by Belgian director Jean-Pierre Dardenne.

The self-financed film, produced by Fanny-Laure Malo of La Boîte à Fanny, and Sarah Pellerin and Robichaud of Les films de la meute, is one of 10 films in the short film category, selected from among 4,500 submissions.

The 13-minute short stars Eve Duranceau, with Genevieve Boivin-Roussy, Jean-Sébastien Courchesne and Richard Fréchette.

The Cannes Film Festival is to run from May 16 to 27.