Coward by Lukas Dhont is Belgium’s entry for the Oscars

With his third feature film, Coward, Lukas Dhont continues his remarkable international trajectory as a director. His debut feature Girl won the Caméra d’Or for Best First Feature at Cannes in 2018. His follow-up Close was awarded the Grand Prix at the festival in 2022 and was nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best International Feature Film in 2023.

In Coward, Pierre arrives at the front in 1916 as a new soldier, determined to prove himself in battle. There he meets Francis, who tries to keep the troops’ spirits up with improvised shows. As the war rages relentlessly on, they both seek to escape reality, if only for a moment.

For Coward, Lukas Dhont once again surrounded himself with a number of trusted collaborators. He co-wrote the screenplay with Angelo Tijssens. Frank Van den Eeden returned as cinematographer, Alain Dessauvage was responsible for the editing, and the score was composed by Valentin Hadjadj, as it was for Girl and Close.

Coward was produced by Michiel Dhont for The Reunion, in co-production with Versus (Opus) in Belgium, Lumen in France and Topkapi Films in the Netherlands.

Even before its world premiere in Cannes, international sales agent The Match Factory announced that the rights to Coward had been sold to Mubi for key territories including the United States, Spain, Italy, Latin America and the United Kingdom.

In the coming weeks, Coward will be screened at, among others, the Toronto International Film Festival, San Sebastián International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival. In France, Diaphana will release the film from 18 November under the title Les Braves. The North American release is scheduled for December.

The Belgian Oscar entry is selected by an independent jury of professionals from the Belgian film sector and coordinated by the country’s two official promotion agencies, Flanders Image and Wallonie-Bruxelles Images.

Coward was produced with the support of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF). The economic fund Screen Flanders also invested in the film.