“Coward,” the queer military drama from Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont, was picked up for North American distribution by Mubi out of the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, adding to the indie distributor’s global rights for the project in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.
MUBI will announce release plans in the near future, according to a release.
“Coward” follows Pierre, a soldier newly arrived at the front during World War I, who is eager to prove himself. Behind the lines, he meets Francis, who decides to lift the spirits of his comrades by staging a theater show. While violence continues around them, both men search for ways to escape the brutality of war, even temporarily.
The film stars Emmanuel Macchia in his debut performance as Pierre and Valentin Campagne as Francis.
In his positive review out of Cannes, TheWrap’s Ben Croll wrote that “the film is rather subversive, moving away from trench-based misery to reimagine the front as a place of great freedom and romantic possibility,” adding that its queer undertones are complementary to the wartime setting, rather than running counter to it. “That’s less a critique than an appraisal, and a distinction that speaks to the present as much as the past,” he wrote.
“Coward” marks Dhont’s latest project following 2022’s “Close,” which was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards. Mubi previously distributed “Close” in several territories, including the U.K., Ireland, Latin America, Turkey and India.
Dhont reunited with many key collaborators from his previous films “Girl” and “Close” including co-writer Angelo Tijssens, producer Michiel Dhont, cinematographer Frank van den Eeden, production designer Eve Martin, composer Valentin Hadjadj, editor Alain Dessauvage and sound designer Yanna Soentjens.
“Coward” is a production by the Reunion, Lumen, Topkapi Films & Versus (Opus) in co-production with France 2 Cinéma, VTM, RTBF, Proximus, BeTV & Orange and was produced in association with The Common Humanity Art Trust and Portobello Productions.
The Match Factory is handling international sales.
