Belgium has selected Lukas Dhont’s Cannes-winning title Close as its official submission to the International Oscar race this year.Close debuted in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where it won the Grand Prix in a tie with Claire Denis’s Stars At Noon.The film follows the intense friendship between 13-year-old boys Léo and Remi, which suddenly gets disrupted.
Struggling to understand what has happened, Léo approaches Sophie, Rémi’s mother. The film is billed as an exploration of friendship and responsibility.
The leading roles in Close are played by newcomers Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele. Léa Drucker and Kevin Janssens, Marc Weiss, Igor Van Dessel, and Léon Bataille also star.Dhont directed from a screenplay he wrote with Angelo Tijssens.
Close was produced by Michiel Dhont and Dirk Impens for Menuet and co-produced by Diaphana, Topkapi Films and Versus Productions.
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