Mubi has acquired North American rights to Lukas Dhont's Coward, one of the most talked-about films in this year's Cannes Film Festival competition, according to Variety. The deal adds to Mubi's earlier acquisition of international rights for the film across the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Coward is a queer romantic drama set during World War I. The film follows Pierre, a soldier newly arrived at the front who is eager to prove himself. Behind the lines he meets Francis, who decides to lift the spirits of his fellow soldiers by organizing a theater show. The film stars Emmanuel Macchia in his debut film performance as Pierre and Valentin Campagne as Francis.
The film earned one of the longest standing ovations for any title in this year's Cannes competition lineup, according to Variety. It marks Dhont's third feature and his follow-up to Close, the 2022 film that won the Grand Prix at Cannes and went on to receive an Oscar nomination for best international feature film. That film was also acquired by Mubi for several territories. Dhont's debut, Girl, won the Camera d'Or after premiering in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2018.
Coward reunites Dhont with several collaborators from his earlier films. Co-writer Angelo Tijssens, producer Michiel Dhont, cinematographer Frank van den Eeden, production designer Eve Martin, editor Alain Dessauvage, and sound designer Yanna Soentjens all return. Music is by Valentin Hadjadj.
The film is a production by the Reunion, Lumen, Topkapi Films, and Versus in co-production with France 2 Cinéma, VTM, RTBF, Proximus, BeTV, and Orange. It is distributed in Benelux by Lumière and in France by Diaphana Distribution. The Match Factory is handling international sales. No North American release date has been announced.
