Director Lukas Dhont on Queer World War I Romance ‘Courage’: ‘It’s a Part of History I Hadn’t Seen Portrayed’

May 21, 2026 6:20am PT Director Lukas Dhont on Queer World War I Romance ‘Courage’: ‘It’s a Part of History I Hadn’t Seen Portrayed’

By Brent Lang

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Brent Lang

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Lukas Dhont was inspired to make “Coward,” a gay love story set in the trenches of World War I, after he came across a series of black-and-white photographs of soldiers staging shows for their fellow troops. As part of the performances, some of the men would crossdress in order to play everything from can-can dancers to love-sick wives to grieving mothers.

“It’s a part of history that I hadn’t seen portrayed before,” Dhont says via Zoom in the days leading up to “Coward’s” Cannes debut. “That got my ideas flowing. I thought, ‘Wow, it would be really special to see these men creating a theater piece while in the background, there are explosions and the war is still going on and there’s death all around them.'”

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