Mubi has acquired North American rights to Lukas Dhont’s movie “Coward” on the Cannes Movie Competition, touchdown one of many hottest titles on this 12 months’s competitors. The queer romantic drama acquired one of many longest standing ovations for a movie on this 12 months’s competitors.
Mubi beforehand shopped the movie for worldwide territories, buying all rights to “Coward” for the UK, Eire, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.
It is Dhont’s follow-up to his 2022 hit “Shut,” which was nominated for Greatest Worldwide Characteristic Movie on the Academy Awards (and was additionally acquired by Mubi for a number of territories, together with the UK, Eire, Latin America, Turkey and India). The Belgian filmmaker’s first movie, “Lady,” received the Caméra d’Or after its premiere at Un Sure Regard, and “Shut” debuted in competitors and received the Grand Prix at Cannes earlier than its run on the Oscars.
“Coward” takes place in the midst of the First World Warfare and follows Pierre, a soldier lately arrived on the entrance and wanting to show himself. Backstage, he meets Francis, who decides to spice up the morale of his comrades by placing on a theater present. Because the violence continues, the 2 males attempt to discover methods to flee the brutality of struggle, if just for a second. The movie stars Emmanuel Macchia in his directorial debut as Pierre and Valentin Campagne (“Colours of Time,” “Case 137”) as Francis.
“Coward” reunites Dhont with most of the creatives who labored on his earlier options, “Lady” and “Shut,” together with co-writer Angelo Tijssens, producer Michiel Dhont, cinematographer Frank van den Eeden, manufacturing designer Eve Martin, music by Valentin Hadjadj, editor Alain Dessauvage and sound by Yanna Soentjens. “Coward” is a Reunion manufacturing, Lumen, Topkapi Movies & Versus (Opus) in co-production with France 2 Cinéma, VTM, RTBF, Proximus, BeTV & Orange. The movie is distributed within the Benelux by Lumière and in France by Diaphana Distribution. The Match Manufacturing facility handles worldwide gross sales.
Mubi is in Cannes with a slate of movies, together with “Minotaur,” “Fatherland,” “Hope” and “Teenage Intercourse and Loss of life at Camp Miasma.”