Lukas Dhont (born 1991) () is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. He was featured in

Forbes 30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists of people under 30 years old issued annually by ''Forbes'' magazine and some of its regional editions. The American lists recognize 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in twenty industries ...

Europe list in 2019.

Early life

Dhont was born in Gent (in English

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

), Belgium. His mother, Hilbe is a fashion teacher at an art school. He has a younger brother Michiel who is a producer. As a teenager, Dhont worked as a costume design assistant on film and television sets.

Career

He made his feature-length debut in 2018 with ''

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...

'', a drama film inspired by the story of Nora Monsecour which focuses on a

trans girl Transgender youth are children or adolescents who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Because transgender youth are usually dependent on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs, transgender yo ...

pursuing a career as a

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

. ''Girl'' premiered at the

2018 Cannes Film Festival The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett acted as President of the Jury. The Japanese film ''Shoplifters'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, won the Palme d'Or. Asghar Farhadi's psycho ...

, where it won the

Caméra d'Or The Caméra d'Or ("''Golden Camera''") is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight or International Critics' Week The International ...

award for best first feature film, as well as the Queer Palm. It received the

André Cavens Award for Best Film André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

given by the

Belgian Film Critics Association The Belgian Film Critics Association (french: Union de la critique de cinéma, UCC) is an organization of film critics from publications based in Brussels, Belgium. History The Belgian Film Critics Association was founded in the early 1950s in Br ...

(UCC) and was selected as the Belgian entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

91st Academy Awards The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, A ...

. It received nine nominations at the

9th Magritte Awards The 9th Magritte Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie André Delvaux, honored the best films of 2018 in Belgium and took place on 2 February 2019 at the Square in the historic site of Mont des Arts, Brussels, beginning at 8:00 p.m. CET ...

and won four, including Best Flemish Film and Best Screenplay for Dhont. Dhont's second feature, ''

Close Close may refer to: Music * ''Close'' (Kim Wilde album), 1988 * ''Close'' (Marvin Sapp album), 2017 * ''Close'' (Sean Bonniwell album), 1969 * "Close" (Sub Focus song), 2014 * "Close" (Nick Jonas song), 2016 * "Close" (Rae Sremmurd song), 201 ...

'', starring Emilie Dequenne and

Léa Drucker Léa Drucker (born 23 January 1972) is a French actress. Early life Born in Caen, Normandy, she is the niece of television presenter Michel Drucker, and of ex-president of M6 Jean Drucker. Her father Jacques is a medical doctor, and her mothe ...

, premiered in competition at the

2022 Cannes Film Festival The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is an upcoming film festival scheduled to take place from 17 to 28 May 2022. The festival will see a tribute to actor Tom Cruise, whose film '' Top Gun: Maverick'' is due to premiere at the festival. The off ...

, where he shared the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

with

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film ''Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include '' Trouble Ev ...

' '' Stars At Noon''. It also won the Sydney Film Prize in June 2022. The film is based on his own experiences at school, and tells the story of the friendship between two boys in their early teens. Dhont is developing an untitled film with screenwriter Laurent Lunetta.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhont, Lukas 1991 births Living people Belgian film directors Belgian screenwriters People from Ghent Belgian LGBT writers LGBT film directors LGBT screenwriters Magritte Award winners Directors of Caméra d'Or winners