Travelling Distribution

Skinny Bottines (Skinny Boots)

A film by

Romain F. Dubois

Synopsis

A nimble-fingered pickpocket has one more day to pay back his ex, whose trust he has betrayed. With no accomplice, he turns to his cousin Pinpin, left in his care by his aunt until the next day.

Highlights

🏆 Cannes Critic's Week, France | 2026 *Sony Discovery Award for Best Short Film
✨ 99th Oscars® - For Your Consideration: Best Live Action Short Film

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Tags

2026

Comedy

Fiction

Genre

Comedy

Country

Canada (Quebec)

Year

2026

Length

19'12"

Themes

Teen friendly

Family bond

Feel-Good

Absurd

With
Dominick Rustam, Aksel Leblanc, France Pilotte, Tiffany Montambault, Juliette Gariépy, Mattis Savard-Verhoeven, Antoine Nicolas

Production
Antoine Rivard-Nolin, Guillaume Laurin, Romain F. Dubois (Couronne Nord)

Director
Romain F. Dubois

Scenario
Romain F. Dubois

Images
Ménad Kesraoui

Artistic Direction
Alex Hercule Desjardins

Editing
Romain F. Dubois, Guillaume Marin

Sound Design
Ilyaa Ghafouri, Nataq Huault

Music
Hubert Tanguay-Labrosse

Costumes
Constance Chamberland

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Director's Statement

Some films are born out of long reflection; this one arrived in my mind suddenly, like a ton of bricks. Even before the story took shape, it was the characters who imposed themselves on me, figures that already lived within me, eager to speak, to become alive. Complex, endearing characters, yet also deeply chaotic. The film moves fluidly between genres: a crime caper, a dramedy, a coming-of-age story, almost an urban fable. It is also a film about failure and transformation. Dan de Minot is not a character who escapes, he collapses. And in that collapse, something cracks open, shifts, revealing the possibility of a new form. Identity, ego, love, appearances, everything is called into question. Here, theft becomes a symbol of transmission. As if, sometimes, a part of ourselves must be stolen away before we can truly exist.

Skinny Bottines is an intuitive and liberated cinematic gesture, following two lost characters through a restless Montreal, with the desire to capture what trembles, what slips away, what remains fragile and in motion.

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Romain F. Dubois

Romain F. Dubois is a Montréal-based filmmaker. His work, noted for its singularity and poetry, explores love, marginality, and mystery. After a background in animation, drawing, and music videos, his first solo short SKINNY BOOTS is selected at Semaine de la Critique in 2026.

Filmography

Skinny Bottines | Short Film | 2025
Tranche de nuit | Short Film | 2020
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