“We hope that people with preconceptions about young migrants will see this story and it might move them”: The Dardenne brothers on Tori and Lokita

Tori and Lokita is the latest film from Belgian directing brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Darlings of Cannes (see Rosetta, The Child, Kid with a Bike, Lorna’s Silence, Young Ahmed, Two Days, One Night), the siblings’ output is always cut through with gritty realism and social commentary, but this most recent film is arguably their hardest hitting drama to date. With all the tension and high stakes of a thriller, it depicts in unrelenting detail the brutal abuse and exploitation of two young West African migrants trying to survive and stay together in Belgium, from being drug runners to working on cannabis farms at the behest of people traffickers.

The Upcoming had the pleasure of speaking to directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne about casting and working with newcomers to the screen, and with Joely Mbundu about her reflections on making the film alongside young Pablo Schils. We also discussed how the story was informed by extensive real-world research, the importance of festivals such as Cannes (which has always championed the directors’ work), and how the filmmakers hope that, by evoking anger and emotion in viewers, they can foster a change in attitudes and policies toward migrants in Europe.

Sarah Bradbury

Tori and Lokita is released in select cinemas on 2^nd December 2022.

Watch a clip from Tori and Lokita here: