Lukas Dhont

Dhont was born in Ghent, Belgium.^[3] He attended a Catholic high school.^[4] As a teenager, Dhont worked as a costume design assistant on film and television sets.^[5]

His mother is a fashion teacher at an art school.^[5] He has a younger brother, Michiel,^[6] who is two years younger and works as a producer.^[7][8] Dhont and Michiel both identify as gay.^[4][7]

Dhont made his feature-length debut in 2018 with Girl, a coming-of-age drama film centered on a trans girl pursuing a career as a ballerina. Girl was inspired by the story of Nora Monsecour, whom Dhont met when he was 18.^[9][10] The film premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Caméra d'Or award for best first feature film, as well as the Queer Palm.^[11] It was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Non-English Language Film.^[12] It received the André Cavens Award presented by the Belgian Film Critics Association and was selected as the Belgian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.^[13][14] It received nine nominations at the 9th Magritte Awards and won four, including Best Flemish Film and Best Screenplay for Dhont.^[15]

In 2019, Dhont was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.^[16]

Dhont's follow-up feature, Close, premiered in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it shared the Grand Prix with Claire Denis' Stars At Noon.^[17] It also won the Sydney Film Prize at the 69th Sydney Film Festival.^[18] The film is based on his own experiences at school, and tells the story of a friendship between two boys in their early teens.^[19] It was named Best International Film of 2022 by the National Board of Review.^[20] In 2023, the film was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.^[21]

In June 2023, Dhont was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[22] In 2024, Dhont presided over the Queer Palm jury for the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.^[23] In 2025, Dhont co-produced, with Michiel, the Belgian-Dutch drama film Julian, which premiered in the Discovery programme at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.^[24][25]

Dhont's third feature film, Coward, is a World War I–set drama about a young Belgian soldier who discovers love and art while questioning traditional notions of heroism and cowardice. The screenplay was developed over approximately three years with co-writer Angelo Tijssens, drawing on historical research conducted in archives in London, Belgium, and France.^[25] In April 2026, it was announced film will have its world premiere in the main competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it will compete for the Palme d'Or.^[26]