Tori and Lokita – Watch the trailer for the new film from the Dardenne Brothers

Winner of the special 75th-anniversary prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Tori and Lokita stars first-time actors Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu in deeply moving performances as two young migrants from Africa.

A young boy (Tori) and an adolescent girl (Lokita) who have travelled alone from Africa to Belgium, pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.

TORI AND LOKITA is a story of a beautiful and unfailing friendship amidst the struggle for survival. The young friends help each other navigate the Belgian immigration system and a criminal underworld, paying smugglers, finding jobs on the black market and sending money to their families. The plot is set within the framework of a thriller, the suspense pulling ever tighter and more intense.

The film was directed by the Dardenne Brothers who collaborated with their regular team including production designer Igor Gabriel (Two Days One Night) and cinematographer Benoit Dervaux (Young Ahmed).

Two-time winners of the Palme d’Or Award for their films Rosetta (1999) and The Child (2005), Belgian-born brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne began making documentary films together in the 1970s through their production company Dérives. In 1994 they created Les Films du Fleuve for the production of feature films and garnered international attention with The Promise in 1996. Many award-winning films followed including The Son (Best Actor Award Cannes 2002 for Olivier Gourmet), Lorna’s Silence (Best Screenplay Cannes 2008), The Kid with a Bike (Grand Prix Cannes 2011, Golden Globe nomination), Two Days One Night (Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Marion Cotillard) and Young Ahmed (Best Director Cannes 2018).

Their films highlight inequality and injustice among the underclasses and the vulnerable at the margins of society. As politically committed filmmakers, the Dardenne Brothers create cinema that they hope will incite positive change in the real world. About TORI AND LOKITA, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne explained “Our dearest wish is that at the end of the film, the audience, who will have felt a deep empathy for these two young exiles and their unfailing friendship, will also feel a sense of revolt against the injustice that reigns in our societies.”

Check out the official site.

Released exclusively in cinemas on 2 December 2022.