Skin: Lucas Doesn’t Feel the Pressure of Making a Second Film, and Why His Competitive Title “Close” Explores Friendship

Lucas Dont had a spectacular start to his career when girlHis directorial debut came at the 2018 Cannes premiere in the “Certain Perspectives” section and he went home with four awards: a Golden Camera for Best First Feature Film, a FIPRESCI Film Critics Award of Merit, one for Best Performance “Certain Perspectives” by Victor Polster and Queer Palm for Best LGBTQ Film.

Based on a true story based on a transgender ballet dancer, it caused controversy by casting Polster, a gay man, but was critically acclaimed and commercially successful. It was sold all over the world, Netflix bought it for the US.

Now don’t go back to Cannes Near, which debuts in the festival competition. It is the story of two 13-year-old boys, Leo and Remy, whose close friendship has been a disaster since their teens. Match Factory does international sales.

extensive interview THRThe Belgian director discussed “Second Film Syndrome”, how a chance encounter gave him one of his stars and why he always follows his mother’s professional advice.

what was your reaction when you found out Near Chosen in a skin contest?

When I was almost done filming and I felt like I wanted to share it with the world and the Cannes Film Festival, I suddenly felt vulnerable. But when I got a call saying we were in a competition, I started going in with this little Airbnb I had in Amsterdam. I immediately called my mother and screamed. I think he’s still deaf in one ear! I feel incredibly lucky.

how difficult it was to succeed girl?

It really was a challenge. I wanted to find a story I could tell with the same passion and desire I spoke of. girl. I went to YouTube to see a lot of directors talking about the problems they had making their second movie. It really helped. I had some ideas on paper, but none of them worked. I returned to my hometown and walked with my mother for a long time. I said, “What am I going to do? What am I going to write? He was very direct: “Obviously, you have to make movies about the ones you have a close relationship with.” Of course, my mother is always right. I took a piece of paper and wrote one word: friendship. From that word came the desire to talk about the close friendship of two 13-year-old boys.

As a child, I often refused to be intimate with another boy because I was afraid of such a relationship. I read a study by an American psychologist who followed nearly 100 children between the ages of 13 and 18. At age 13, he saw these boys describe their friendships as incredibly important to them. Their friends were the people they trusted, the ones they shared their secrets with, the ones they loved. They weren’t afraid to express the love they felt for their friends. He then interviewed them at ages 15, 16, 17, and 18. And with many of them he saw how the masculinity of acting interfered. The proximity of those guys ceased. Suddenly, the story of my personal experience seems to have become something bigger, much more universal. I realized I wanted to make a movie about the impact of friendship. I think we spent a lot of time in the movie about romantic relationships, but for many of us friendship determines who we are.

How did you get your leaders? Did you want to play non-pro?

I assumed that, in the case of two 13-year-old presenters, it would be difficult to find children with acting experience. But something strange happened. I wrote the opening scenes for this film and took the train from Antwerp to Ghent. In the chair next to me sat a boy who was talking to friends, you know, about life, etc. Just looking at it, I had a hunch that the person I was writing about was sitting across from me. So I asked if he would be interested in acting. I was very excited. When we started climbing, we invited him and maybe 750 other guys. And he stayed while we went through the selection process. With each step he was more and more impressed with us. He has that power, which allows us to see his vulnerability. The guy on the train, his name is Eden Dambrin, we play Leo.

For the second guy, we went to an acting studio in Belgium for young people because I wanted to see how they work as a group. And I found out that this guy has an amazing face and incredible energy. He joined the selection process, and when we narrowed the selection down to 20 people, we started to bring them together. And this combination – Eden with this guy [Gustav De Waele] It was special, they clashed, but they were also incredibly kind to each other. You saw how they helped each other, argued, worked. That was the power we wanted in the movie because we wanted the boys to share a friendly connection and be able to trust each other in more emotional scenes.

What was the hardest thing about making a movie?

part of our country [Belgium] flooded that summer [in 2021]. This is a summer movie and we wanted a summer feel. And then half of our country was under water, it was raining a lot. Of course, there are always surprises and you have to take those surprises into account. One of the film’s strengths too. girlThat we had professional actors [including Emilie Dequenne and Léa Drucker] Work with non-professionals. It is always strong because they play with each other; Beauty sees how non-professionals work. Gifts are given to professionals and vice versa.

Is there a scene that helps you?

Definitely. I can’t say too much not to give it away because this is the main moment of the movie. But this is a scene on the bus. It was one of those scenes that you know you wrote, but suddenly the actors bring it to life, bring the emotion in it and bring it to life in front of you. Everyone on set was crying.

girl It was about transformation and gender identity. Do you see a connection between those themes and this film?

I think to some extent Near It is a continuation of the themes. girlBut it’s also a very different film. It’s a continuation, but also a break. It is true that identity remains a central theme. girl He really talked about gender identity and body relationship. The themes here are more about friendship, intimacy and responsibility.

Nowadays there is more discussion about masculine identity, about masculine intimacy. Do you think kids are growing up now than when you were 13?

I think this question really depends on where you ask it. There are differences, but the themes, the issues that existed when I was 13, still exist. We work with our two children and we work with other groups of children and I felt how difficult it was for them to discuss these issues. I hope we are in a positive evolution when we talk about masculinity, allowing weakness and insecurity, allowing men to be dependent on one another. But I’m still bombarded with examples from the other side. The two 13 year olds we work with here are very open and can express their love for each other. But, like this study, I wonder how they talk and behave between 15 and 18 years old. I hope they continue to speak with the same love.

with girl, Some criticized him for revealing a trans man in the sky character. What did you take away from that experience?

locations girl There has been an incredible process in the world of understanding and studying different thoughts, different views. I found this process incredibly rich for me, both as a person and as a director. One of the biggest insights was that when it comes to LGBTQ communities or trans communities, there’s a lot to open up, a lot to learn and a lot to see. Because these stories weren’t given a platform or place to explore and discover.

Do you already know what your next story will be?

I’m working on a French project that I’m slowly writing, which is exciting. But I still put a lot of energy in the end. Near That when we have the last day of mixing, it will be a huge relief. I can rest a bit before going back to the other projects on the shelf.

And go for another walk with your mother.

Დ Yes, exactly.