Lukas Dhont has not lost the Golden Palm; he won the Grand Prix. There is no question of any disappointment with the director of Close† “Super content,” he says on the phone from Cannes, just before the usual press conference. Even though it was Close voted favorite for the main prize by the major foreign media? “I thought it was wonderful that my film was considered worthy of that by so many. This is only my second movie. And I give it to Ruben Östlund, who I admire very much. To be able to drink a glass of champagne with him is great.”
Close it was, because the Grand Prix was the last prize that was awarded before the Golden Palm started. “It was exciting until the very end. And of course you are ambitious, and you want that first prize. But what’s more important is that so many people came to tell me in the past few days that this movie is really their falling for something was.”
That he must share his prize in a tie with Stars at noon by the French director Claire Denis, he has no objection. “But only because it’s Claire Denis, who I really look up to. To be able to stand next to her on stage is a huge honor. For a moment I hoisted up to Claire Denis’ height.”
And now? “Press conference, dinner, and quite a bit of champagne. In the past few days I have held back and mainly given a lot of interviews. But now I’m going to really enjoy it.”
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Phone in the bath
At those festivities he undoubtedly ran into Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen, who won the Jury Prize with The eight mountains. They spent the night, because they had their flight back home at 6 o’clock in the morning, where their son was waiting for them.
After all, they had been back in Belgium for a long time when they received a phone call from Cannes on Saturday that they had won and had to come back. At that time, Vandermeersch was taking a bath with their son. “That phone call didn’t come until half past one in the afternoon, so it was a hassle to find another flight,” says Vandermeersch. “There was no time to stop by a hotel after arrival, so I had to put my face on on the plane, change at the airport and put on my shoes in the taxi.”
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne also had to return from Belgium. “It’s great how Belgian cinema comes together here,” says Van Groeningen. “There is a lot of love and warmth and respect between us. The Dardennes have paved the way for Belgian filmmakers in Cannes.”
We’ve known each other for a long time,” says Vandermeersch. “As a jury member I once gave a prize to a short film by Lukas at the Short Film Festival in Leuven. And now I could see his film here and see how much he has grown since then.”
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