Mubi has scooped up North American rights to Lukas Dhont’s “Coward” at the Cannes Film Festival, landing one of the buzzier titles in this year’s competition. The queer romantic drama earned one of the longest standing ovation for a film in this year’s competition lineup.
Mubi previously bought the film for international territories, acquiring all rights to “Coward” for the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.
It marks Dhont’s follow-up to his 2022 hit “Close,” which was nominated for best international feature at the Oscars (and was also acquired by Mubi for several territories, including the U.K., Ireland, Latin America, Turkey and India). The Belgian filmmaker’s 2018 debut “Girl” won the Camera d’Or after premiering in Un Certain Regard, and “Close” debuted in competition and won the Grand Prix in Cannes before its Oscar journey.
“Coward” is set in the midst of WWI and follows Pierre, a soldier newly arrived at the front who is eager to prove himself. Behind the lines, he meets Francis, who decides to lift the spirits of his comrades by putting together a theater show. While the violence continues, both men try to find ways to escape the brutality of war, even if only for a moment. The film stars Emmanuel Macchia in his debut film performance as Pierre and Valentin Campagne (“Colours of Time,” “Case 137”) as Francis.
“Coward” reunites Dhont with many creatives who worked on his previous features, “Girl” and “Close,” including co-writer Angelo Tijssens, producer Michiel Dhont, cinematographer Frank van den Eeden, production designer Eve Martin, music from Valentin Hadjadj, editor Alain Dessauvage and sound from 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. The film is distributed in Benelux by Lumière and in France by Diaphana Distribution. The Match Factory is handling international sales.
Mubi is at Cannes with a string of films, including “Minotaur,” “Fatherland,” “Hope” and “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.”
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