Canadian filmmaker soaks in Cannes debut with Ontario-set teen film

Nate (Nick Serino), at the wheel, Riley (Reece Moffett) in the passenger seat, and Adam (Jackson Martin) in the back are shown in a scene from the film 'Sleeping Giant' by Ontario-bred writer/director Andrew Cividino. (Handout / CP / Aaron Yeger)

TORONTO -- Anxious about the world premiere of his first feature, at the Cannes Film Festival of all places, Andrew Cividino showed up at the theatre early to prepare.

The Ontario-bred director was stunned to find an audience for his tiny film "Sleeping Giant" was already there, patiently waiting in a long line that stretched around the building.

Such is the degree of film passion at Cannes, the rookie director marvelled by phone Thursday. He admits it caught him by surprise.

"You're going in just to do your test and make sure everything's going to work and you realize all these people have shown up two hours before your film just to watch it," Cividino said incredulously after the screening.

"That's a really humbling and terrifying experience."

Nevertheless, Cividino said the world premiere seemed to go over well. It would be followed by two more screenings Thursday, with publicity and sales meetings squeezed in between for "a total whirlwind kind of day."

Cividino said watching his film for the first time on the big screen brought on a mix of emotions.

"I was somewhere between nervous and (feeling) this kind of underwater, is-this-even-happening feeling," said the 31-year-old Ryerson University graduate, who arrived in the French Riviera on Tuesday.

"You are very fine-tuned to listening in to the people around you and how they're responding. You know you can tell the difference between an audience that's really restless and shifting and opening packages and one that is (not).

"Laughter is an easy indicator if it's a comedy and we do have some humorous scenes -- and you know that those scenes are going well because the audience is laughing along with you. But for the more dramatic material it's harder to gauge and it's sort of the absence of coughing and shifting that tells you: 'I think it's going well.' But I don't know."

Cividino's Lake Superior-set film is screening as part of Critics' Week, a competitive program devoted to features by first- and second-time directors. "Sleeping Giant" centres on three boys on the cusp of adolescence who spend the summer together in Thunder Bay, Ont.

The film stars Jack Martin as Adam, who befriends rambunctious cousins Riley and Nate, played by real-life cousins Nick Serino and Reece Moffett.

The teens arrived in Cannes on Wednesday, and were slowly soaking in the atmosphere, said Cividino.

"I think they're so thrilled to be here. Nick didn't realize there would be palm trees and that it would actually be warm and beautiful so I think he's very pleasantly surprised about that," he said.

"And they've just been really handling their interviews and the entire process here with a great deal of poise and maturity considering it is such a pressure cooker."

Cividino said he's looking forward to getting close to some serious A-listers at an upcoming directors dinner, an exclusive gathering for filmmakers across the fest's various sections.

"Some of my heroes will certainly be sitting around that table so that's something I'm very excited about," he said, going on to rattle off a list of likely attendees.

"The Coen brothers, Woody Allen, Denis Villeneuve, Gus Van Sant, it's like a really impressive list of people."

Quebec's Villeneuve hits the Croisette with his studio-backed feature "Sicario," starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin. It's in competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or award.

Cividino is competing for the Camera d'Or award, the prize for a first feature film. But he said he's already far too overwhelmed by the excitement of the fest to seriously consider his chances of winning.

"It's a win to be here, honestly. Anything else would be just gravy."

The Cannes Film Festival runs May 13 to 24.