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BERLINALE 2018 Market / Germany

The Match Factory seals a deal for Lukas Dhont’s debut, Girl

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- BERLIN 2018: The winner of a Work in Progress Award at Les Arcs and CONNeXT has been added to the line-up of the German international sales agent

The Match Factory seals a deal for Lukas Dhont’s debut, Girl
Girl by Lukas Dhont

The winner of a Work in Progress Award at Les Arcs and CONNeXT (see the news), Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile
]
by debutant director Lukas Dhont, has been added to the line-up of The Match Factory. The German international sales agent confirmed the deal on the first day of the European Film Market (15-23 February).

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Girl, which was developed at the Cannes Cinéfondation, follows a 15-year-old girl, Lara – portrayed by newcomer Victor Polster – who was born in a boy’s body and wants to become a ballerina. Arieh Worthalter, who was nominated for the 2018 Magritte Awards, will play Lara’s father.

Girl is a Belgian-Dutch co-production by Dirk Impens (Menuet), the company behind Felix van Groeningen’s films (including The Broken Circle Breakdown [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felix van Groeningen
interview: Felix Van Groeningen
interview: Felix Van Groeningen
film profile
]
) and Stijn Coninx’s Daens, along with Frakas Productions and Topkapi Films.

Dhont has forged a successful career in short films, and his 2014 L’Infini was the Belgian entry for the Academy Awards. Other acclaimed members of the crew are Belgian cinematographer Frank van den Eeden (Home [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fien Troch
film profile
]
by Fien Troch), editor Alain Dessauvage (Bullhead [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bart Van Langendonck
interview: Michaël R. Roskam
film profile
]
by Michaël R Roskam) and internationally renowned Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

The film is expected to be completed in the summer, while Girl has also already secured its French distribution with Diaphana.

Thania Dimitrakopoulou, head of sales at The Match Factory, stated: “We are very happy to be working with Lukas on his mesmerising and bold debut film, and even more so with long-time partners such as Dirk Impens of production house Menuet and Diaphana as the French distributor. We all strongly believe in the great impression a film like Girl will make on audiences and the critics, and very much look forward to sharing it soon.”

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