Belgium Selects Lukas Dhont’s ‘Coward’ as Its Entry for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Oscars

Belgium has selected Lukas Dhont’s latest feature, Coward, as the country’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, organizers announced on August 25, 2026. The film will compete alongside other national submissions in the Oscars’ international category for that year’s ceremony.

Directed by Dhont, Coward was developed from a screenplay he wrote with Angelo Tijssens, according to the announcement. The project is set “at the height of the First World War,” establishing the film’s historical context as it prepares for international review during the awards season.

The story follows Pierre, a soldier newly arrived at the front, as described in the release. The premise places the character in the environment of trench warfare-era Europe at a point when military conflict is at its most intense, according to the film’s synopsis provided with the selection.

Dhont, who directed the film and co-wrote it with Tijssens, is also credited as the creative lead for the project’s direction and narrative approach. The selection positions Coward as Belgium’s flagship feature in the Academy’s international competition process, where submissions are made by their respective countries for eligibility in the category.

The Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film race operates through a submission and review system that depends on each country’s official selection. With Belgium’s choice now in place, Coward becomes the title the Belgian awarding body has put forward for consideration as it moves through the Academy’s screening and evaluation steps for the category.

For the filmmakers and Belgian industry teams attached to Coward, the selection typically brings increased visibility in global markets as the film joins the international slate used by distributors, exhibitors, and press during the awards cycle. The entry also indicates that Belgium intends to highlight a feature made for international audiences, given the film’s language and subject matter as described in the announcement.

As the 99th Oscars continue to take shape, the next major milestones will be associated with the Academy’s ongoing evaluation of submitted international titles and the eventual narrowing of the field in the category.

Coward’s selection underscores Belgium’s continued participation in the Academy Awards’ international screen spotlight, offering an additional entry point for audiences to encounter recent Belgian cinema in a high-profile global venue.