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'Close' by Lukas Dhont opens Film Fest Ghent 2022

still Close
News 27 May 2022
Close, the new feature film by Lukas Dhont, rewarded with the Grand Prix at Cannes Filmfestival 2022, will be the opening movie on Tuesday 11 October at the 49th edition of the Ghent Film Festival 2022.

Ticket Sale for 'Close' starts on 22 September.

Last Thursday, Close made its world premiere in the prestigious competition of the Cannes Film Festival. Director Lukas Dhont, flanked by his cast and crew, received a 15-minutes long standing ovation after the screening. Dhont, who presented his second feature film there with Close, was awarded the Grand Prix on Saturday.

In 2018, Lukas Dhont’s feature film debut Girl opened Film Fest Ghent. Dhont will be the first ever director to have opened the festival both with his debut and its successor.

Wim de witte
It is an absolute privilege to kick off our festival with this delicate, warm film by Lukas. We’ve watched this filmmaker grow throughout his short films and his full length debut ‘Girl’, which was our festival opener in 2018. With ‘Close’, Dhont once again displays his mastery of telling profoundly human stories. Similar to ‘Girl’, Lukas succeeds in creating lifelike characters making use of a distinctive visual language, performed by a young and promising cast and backed by Valentin Hadjadj’s fitting score. ‘Close’ truly touched us, and we can’t wait to introduce Belgian audiences to this extraordinary film.
Wim De Witte Programme Director

Synopsis

The intense friendship between two thirteen-year old boys Leo and Remi suddenly gets disrupted. Struggling to understand what has happened, Leo approaches Sophie, Remi's mother. Close is a film about friendship and responsibility.

Close is a production by Menuet, Diaphana Films, Topkapi Films & Versus Production in coproduction with VTM and RTBF. Close received support from the Film Fund of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF) of Minister for Cultural Affairs Jan Jambon, the Netherlands Film Fund (NFF) and the Netherlands Filmproduction Incentive, Film and Audiovisual Center of Wallonia Brussels Federation, Canal+, Ciné+, Sacem & Eurimages, the Tax Shelter Measure of the Belgian Federal Government and Casa Kafka Pictures.

The 49th edition of Film Fest Ghent will happen on 11 - 22 October 2022. Close will open the festival on Tuesday 11 October.