In another episode of Things You Probably Didn’t Know About, let’s get to know more about Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont, who created the 2022 film, ‘Close.’
Lukas was born on June 11, 1991 in Ghent, Belgium, and he is 31 years old as of this writing. His mother, Hilbe, works as a fashion teacher at an art school while his younger brother, Michiel, is a producer.
Prior to being an acclaimed filmmaker, Lukas used to work as a costume design assistant on film and television sets when he was a teenager. His feature-length debut is the 2018 film, ‘Girl,’ which tells the story of a trans girl pursuing a career as a ballerina.
Meanwhile, his second feature is ‘Close,’ which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. The coming-of-age film won the Grand Prix at the Cannes, as well as the Sydney Film Prize in June 2022.
As for his upcoming project, Lukas is reportedly working on an untitled film with screenwriter Laurent Lunetta as of July 2021. Not to mention, he is now considered to be the “prince of queer coming-of-age cinema.”
Moreover, Lukas is openly gay, and his younger brother Michiel, whom he created the film ‘Close’ with as one of the producers, is also gay.
In an interview with GQ, Michiel shared:
“I am gay [too]. Around me, other male friends or even girls, they didn’t quite understand what we were going through… During that time, [my male friends] pushed away so strongly at that idea, that I was quite alone in that. I think when Lukas and I really came together, we could share those emotions [with each other].”
‘Close’ is based on Lukas’ experiences at school, as his “very effeminate” traits became a subject of mockery.
“I was considered someone very effeminate with [these mannerisms], from my voice to my way of walking, talking. Unfortunately, at the time, I didn’t really have the sort of courage to say whatever. I was this young person who wanted to belong to a group rather than to myself,” the filmmaker looked back on growing up as a teenager in Ghent, Belgium.
At the age of 18, Lukas was still very much in the closet when he went entered film school. According to him,
“Not only about my sexuality. I was just also not myself. I think I had created this armor to protect me. One of my teachers said, ‘You don’t seem to have a personality.’ She was so right. I had become this collage of other people’s personalities.”
Lukas began to find his own identity after watching Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman’s 1975 film ‘Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels’ for class. Thereafter, he immersed himself into the works of queer filmmakers, including Céline Sciamma, Xavier Dolan and Pedro Almodóvar.
“It was a flood of things that came over me. I think all those pieces made me take my armor off, made me understand possibility,” Lukas expressed.
Sources: gq.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com
Two gay brothers working on the film, I’m sure it’s gonna be great. What a cutie Lukas is 🤤