well, to find out, we caught up with belgian film—maker, oscar nominated lukas dhont in new york whentate of mind.# 31—year—old lukas dhont is one of this year's chosen oscar's people and nominated film—maker from belgium today. he's 3,600 miles from his hometown of ghent, but happy to be in new york. the first time i came to new york i was 20 and ijust remember being completely overwhelmed by it. i remember seeing shame by steve mcqueen and having this deep impact of it. i mean, west side story. so, yeah, i think new york came to me first through the different ways it was filmed by different directors. while in america, he's been swept up in the oscars campaign for his nominated picture close, a well received, very emotional story of friendship between two young belgian boys that goes awry. the film is about a beautiful, intimate, tender friendship between two 13—year—old boys, leo and remi, who have spent, i mean, nearly their whole lives together. and as they go through high school together, their closeness gets questioned by schoolmates. and we actually see the impact of that ques

today we take lukas dhont to a british tea shop in new york, tea and sympathy. would you like some? matters. awards are nice gifts, nice additions, but it is really not, i suppose, additions, but it is really not, isuppose, what additions, but it is really not, i suppose, what it is about four hours. i think it is about four hours. i think it is about pointing the camera at something we felt it hadn�*t been pointed at and opening up the conversation around intimacy and masculinity and how those two haven�*t often in john and sam frame. that is what it is really about. that golden statue seems nice and shiny and beautiful, but it is a golden statue. now is the time for me to stick my neck out, to prove to you just how clever i am as i predict who is likely to win in the key oscar categories. of course i run the risk of making a total fool of myself. so starting with animated feature film, tab trophy or coq modo tarawhai pinocchio, and i think that documentary feature — the story on russian opposition leader alex hove albion looks to be the winner. best and initial feature film will g

the stories of leo, played by eden dambrine, and remi, played by gustav de waele, the director, lukas dhontes a dramatic twist after classmates question their relationship. it shows how the closeness between many boys disappears as they grow older. [ speaking non-english ] >> reporter: the inspiration came from an american researcher who shows how young teen boys initially gave testimonies of love about each other, but that quickly changes. >> as these boys grow older and she asks these questions again at 15, 17, 18, we see and we notice how so many of them start to distance themselves from that language. >> when you go to high school, those friendships, yeah, they collapse a bit. if we could do something, it has to change. >> reporter: perfectly encapsulating that idea landed "close" in a competitive race for best international feature. this image shows gustave and eden on a video call with each other celebrating the movie's oscar nomination. but "close" is actually the farthest thing from your typical hollywood movie. >> we knew we had to find two actors who would probably have never acte

angeles. 31—year—old lukas dhont is one of the oscar's chosen people.ys, leo and remi, who have spent time nearly the whole lives together, and as they go to high school together their closeness gets questioned by schoolmates and we actually see the impact of that questioning on their beautiful, tender relationship. as a result of his on getting nominated, lukas dhont attended the oscar nominees' luncheon, attending boston and answer sessions, attending screenings, talking to the media, trying to influence 0scar voters. essentially he is selling his film, his own artistic creation. ifeel like i can be authentic in it, ifeel like we are doing all of these q&as, meeting the audience and it is incredibly beautiful to hear about them talk about the film because in a way it connects me to it. every nominee is participating in the entertainment spectacle that is diminishing. a few years ago it was routinely watched by audiences of 40 million or more in the us. last year, it had fallen tojust 15 million. a big effort is under way to create a show that will boo