Belgian film Girl nominated for Golden Globe

Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s debut feature film Girl has been nominated for a Golden Globe in the category Best Foreign Language Film. The Golden Globes are bestowed annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and are considered a suggestion of which films will figure in the Academy Awards.

Girl is the story of a teenager, Lara, who is transitioning from male to female while starting a gruelling training to become a ballerina. It is based on the true story of a transgendered woman from Antwerp who went through the same experience.

The other four nominations in the category are Capernaum from Lebanon, Germany’s Never Look Away, Roma by the Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men) and Shoplifters by Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda (Like Father, Like Son).

“It is a huge honour to be in the company of such fantastic filmmakers,” said Dhont in response to the nomination. “Girl is so close to my heart. It is a film that grew out of a friendship that is extremely important to me. I want to grab everyone who helped me bring Girl to life and whisper in their ear: ‘Golden. Globe. Nomination’.”

Girl has already won several awards in Europe, including The Fipresci Prize and the Queer Palm at Cannes and Best Actor for Victor Polster in Cannes, Stockholm and Odessa. It broke the record for ticket sales for a Flemish film in France.

The Golden Globe ceremony takes place in Hollywood on 6 January.

Photo courtesy Menuet