Mubi Acquires Lukas Dhont’s WWI-Set Cannes Competition Film ‘Coward’ for Multiple Territories

With the Cannes Film Festival‘s red carpet carpet still almost a week away from being laid, Mubi has swooped on another film set to compete for the Palme d’Or.

The arthouse distributor and production company has acquired all rights to Lukas Dhont‘s “Coward” for the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.

The deal comes just a day after Mubi announced it had acquired rights to Na Hong-Jin’s Korean thriller “Hope,” starring Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Hoyeon and also world premiering in competition in Cannes.

Related Stories

Kid Cudi Fires M.I.A. From His Tour After She Is Booed During Republican Rant: 'I Won't Have Someone on Tour Making Offensive Remarks'

Following Dhont’s 2022 hit “Close,” which was nominated for best international feature at the Oscars, “Coward” is set in the midst of WWI and 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 comrades by putting together a theatre show. While the violence continues, both men try to find ways to escape the brutality of war, even if only for a moment.

“Coward” reunites Dhont with many creatives that have worked on his previous feature, “Girl” and Close,” including co-writer Angelo Tijssens, producer Michiel Dhont, cinematographer Frank van den Eeden, production designer Eve Martin, music from Valentin Hadjadj, editor Alain Dessauvage and sound from Yanna Soentjens.

“Coward” is a production by the Reunion, Lumen, Topkapi Films & Versus (Opus) in co-production with France 2 Cinéma, VTM, RTBF, Proximus, BeTV & Orange. The film was produced in association with The Common Humanity Art Trust and Portobello Productions. The film was made with the support of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF) of the Flemish Government, the Screen Flanders economic fund, Screen Brussels, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB), Wallimage, CINÉ+ OCS, CNC, PICTANOVO Hauts-de-France, Sacem, the Netherlands Film Fund, the Netherlands Film Production Incentive and EURIMAGES, and the participation of France Télivisions.

“Coward” came about with the help of the Tax Shelter Measure of the Belgian Federal Government, Casa Kafka & Lumière Invest.

The film is distributed in Benelux by Lumière and in France by Diaphana Distribution.