‘You never forget your roots,’ Academy Award nominee from Quebec ready for Oscar night

Academy Award nominee Patrice Vermette never forgets his Montreal roots and looks to win a second Oscar for Dune, Part 2.

There has been no extended partying, strings of dinner engagements or celebratory vacations for Quebec production designer Patrice Vermette, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Dune, Part 2.

He’s been working.

“It’s amazing to be celebrated by your peers, but we should never forget that the reason for the Oscar is the work that goes into making the movie so we should not take away that focus,” he said from Budapest, where he is working on an undisclosed film.

In 2022, Vermette won the Best Achievement in Production Design Oscar for Dune and is up for the same award on Sunday.

“I’m taking the plane tonight overnight, and when I’m going to sit down on the plane, I am going to forget about the job that I’m doing right now and I’m going to be enjoying my weekend,” he said.

This nomination, however, was somewhat bittersweet. In contrast to 2022, director Denis Villeneuve did not receive a nomination for the second instalment of the franchise.

“It’s something that I cannot explain but there are surprises every year and Denis won in many, many, many critics choice awards circles [this year],” said Vermette. “It’s like the pyramids of Egypt. It’s a mystery.”

Dune, Part 2 was nominated for Best Picture, and Villeneuve was nominated as Best Director for the Critics Choice, BAFTA and a number of other awards.

Vermette was also nominated for an Academy Award for production design in 2017 for the film Arrival (also directed by Villeneuve) and was nominated for Art Direction in 2010 for Jean-Marc Vallée’s The Young Victoria.

Vermette said that his success and the success of the film would not have happened without its director. He explained that a production designer, director of photographer and other crew members work closely with the director who guides each step.

Having a solid working and artistic relationship with Villeneuve was essential for putting the complicated and meticulously crafted film together.

“The captain of the ship is Denis,” said Vermette. “Without Denis there is no film. You can have the best orchestra in the world, but without the conductor, it’s chaos. He’s a great conductor.”

Vermette grew up on Montreal’s South Shore and recently graduated from Concordia University in 2023.

“I wanted to graduate at the same time as my daughter,” he said. “I would have graduated in 1991-1992, and I had two electives left to take when I started working. My dad was so discouraged.”

It’s hard to imagine his father being discouraged by Vermette’s body of work. He is one of a collection of Quebec filmmakers who have broken into the Hollywood mainstream and been heralded for their work. Adrien Morot, for example, won for Best Makeup in 2022.

Vermette, who has worked with Villeneuve since the ’90s, said those from the Belle Province all know each other, often work together and are rooting for each other along the way.

“You take your baby steps making local music videos and then moving up to do commercials and then have the chance to meet a guy like Jean-Marc Vallée, it’s amazing,” he said. “It’s this little group. We were working together on low budget music videos and commercials and we’ve been following each other and it’s great because you look around and it’s like, ‘my God. We’re there.’ But you never forget your roots.”