Lukas Dhont studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. He made his debut as a director and scriptwriter with the short film Corps perdu from 2012. That same year, his short film Skin of Glass was also released, and he wrote the screenplay for another short film, The Air in My Throat. In 2014 he wrote and directed L’Infini which won the “Best Belgian Student Short Film” at the Film Fest Gent.

His 2018 debut feature, Girl, for which he also wrote the screenplay, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. The film was positively received and won the Caméra d’or (best debut film), the Prix FIPRESCI (international film critics prize) and the Queer Palme. At the Zurich Film Festival, the film received the Golden Eye Award for Best International Film. It also copped the European Discovery Award during the European Film Awards. Girl was the official Belgian Oscar submission and was nominated for the Golden Globes and the Césars. Dhont was a jury member in the Un Certain Regard section at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

Dhont’s second feature, Close, premiered in competition at the 2022 Cannes festival, where it shared the Grand Prix with Claire Denis’ Stars at Noon. It also won the Sydney Film Prize in June 2022. The film is based on his own experiences at school.