Interview with Romain F. Dubois, Skinny Boots director

In Skinny Boots, Dan and Pippin - two cousins who are from the sharpest tools in the box - set off on a day of pickpocketting and half-backed scams. The duo spark off each other as they race through the streets of Montreal, on foot or perched on a rickety scooter, in a string of unpredictable events. To the beat of an elegant soundtrack, Romain F. Dubois displays a keen sense for movement and delivers a comedy that is as funny as it is endearing. 

Interview with Romain F. Dubois

The project was born out of an impulse: to capture beauty in the mayhem, to observe marginal figures as they make up their own logic within a saturated, fragmented, brutal urban setting. The film draws from the feverish energy of works by the Safdie brothers and Jean-Claude Lauzon, in which characters, swept up in wildly extravagant situations, shout, love, and clash with the full force of their contradictions. 

It is also a film about failure. Dan doesn’t escape, he collapses, and as he does, something beautiful emerges. Identity, ego, love, appearances: everything is called into question.

Dan, Pinpin, Dominick, and Aksel

I ran into Dominick Rustam in the street as he was leaving an audition. He exudes a striking, almost magnetic beauty and has a uniquely distinctive way of speaking He is a model inhabited with the energy of a Quebecois matante. Once I got home, I knew it was him – he was my Dan de Minot. 

I heard about Aksel Leblanc following his performance in Phenix (2025). I was immediately struck by his talent, and in the audition, it was love at first sight. His dedication is remarkable, and his work ethic rivals that of the most distinguished actors. 

A ride through Montreal 

I wanted to create a ride. From the moment the film starts, we are swept up in a storm. Each scene had to introduce new stakes, or an obstacle to Dan’s desire. Then there’s a rift – something physical, tangible – the film slows down and the masks come off. I wanted to give these characters a gentle place, almost a cocoon, where the two cousins could finally discover each other honestly, as cousins.  

One must accept a simple truth: downtown Montreal isn’t particularly appealing nor cinematic. And yet, there’s this peculiar vibe, it is teeming with colourful individuals who cross paths and interact without knowing one another. To do justice to this chaos of eccentrics, we opted for an instinctive mise-en-scène: handheld camera or telephoto lens. The image had to feel nervous, feverish, and at times distant, like a passerby who catches a quick glimpse of an odd scene from afar. 

Trumpets and snare drum 

Shot on 16 millimeter film, the concrete, snow, asphalt give the movie an almost palpable quality. It was important to me that the music match this texture, using real instruments. The trumpet came first, as the sonic embodiment of Dan, along with a snare drum, which brings an almost military quality – fitting for this character who, with his naïve younger cousin, behaves like a general commanding his young soldier. Composer Hubert Tanguay-Labrosse is a genius in the making; mark my words, he is the next Michel Legrand!