Coward opens Film Fest Gent

1917. Pierre (Emmanuel Macchia’s acting debut) arrives at the front as a new recruit, driven to prove himself on the battlefield during the First World War. Behind the frontlines, he meets Francis (Valentin Campagne), who tries to boost the troops’ morale with improvised shows. As the war rages relentlessly, they both try to escape reality, if only for a moment.

The film stands out above all for the vulnerable yet poignant performances of Macchia and Campagne. The chemistry between the two sparks off the screen, giving the film a lighter, more tender tone than we are used to seeing in classic war films. They were jointly awarded the prestigious Best Actor prize at Cannes.

Lukas Dhont’s debut film, Girl, was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, in the official ‘Un Certain Regard’ selection, and was awarded the Caméra d’Or. His second film, Close, was selected for the official competition and won the Grand Prix. Furthermore, Close was nominated for an Academy Award in the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category in 2023. His third film, Coward, had its world premiere at the 79th Cannes International Film Festival, where the two lead actors received the award for Best Actor. Girl was the official opening film at Film Fest Gent in 2018 and Close in 2022.

Coward is a production by The Reunion, Lumen, Topkapi Films & Versus Productions, in co-production with France 2 Cinéma, VTM, RTBF, Proximus, BeTV & Orange. The film was produced in collaboration with Portobello Productions, The Common Humanity Art Trust and Léger Productions. The film was made possible thanks to the essential support of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF) of the Flemish Government, the Screen Flanders economic fund, Screen Brussels, the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (FWB), Wallimage, CINÉ+ OCS, CNC, PICTANOVO Hauts-de-France, Sacem, the Netherlands Film Fund, the Netherlands Film Production Incentive and EURIMAGES, and with the cooperation of France Télévisions. Coward was produced with the support of the Belgian Tax Shelter, Casa Kafka and Lumière Tax Shelter. Coward is distributed in the Benelux by Lumière and in France by Diaphana Distribution.

The film will have its Benelux premiere on Wednesday 7 October at Film Fest Gent and will be released in Belgian cinemas from 21 October 2026 and in the Netherlands from 22 October 2026.

Source: Film Fest Gent press release