MUMBAI: Québec actor-director Xavier Dolan is tipped to be the first recipient the Jay Scott Prize for emerging talent instituted by the Toronto Film Critics Association.

The Jay Scott Prize is named for the influential Globe and Mail film critic, who died in 1993. In addition to the honour itself, there is also a cash prize of $5000.

Dolan shot to instant fame when his film, J'ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother) had its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival. Although the film didn't win the Camera d'or, which honours first films, it did pick up three other awards including the Art Cinema Award granted by an international jury of indie theatre programmers obviously convinced that audiences will go for the film.

In September last year, Telefilm Canada announced that it had selected Dolan's film to represent Canada in the best foreign language film category at the 2010 Academy Awards. Nominations for the awards will be announced on February 2nd.

Dolan is expected to be in Toronto to accept the award from Atom Egoyan when the Toronto critics gather for their annual meeting on 12 January.