Unfortunately, that didn’t necessarily result in more nominations for LGBTQ+ talent, which feels like a let-down just a year after Ariana DeBose made history as the first queer woman of color to win an Academy Award for her work in West Side Story.

But one place we were pleased to see some queer representation was in the Best International Film category, which recognized the heartbreaking coming-of-age drama Close from gay Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont.

Born in 1991 in Ghent—the third largest city in Belgium—Dhont’s first foray into the film world came as a teenager when his mother (a fashion teacher) helped him find work as a costume design assistant on Belgian movie productions.

However, the film did receive its fair share of criticism, both for its depiction of “ unforgivable ” physical harm, and because the trans lead was played by young cisgender male actor Victor Polster.

As the film’s title would suggest, they share a very intimate yet innocent friendship, not uncommon at that age, but it all gradually starts to change once the school year begins and the classmates take notice of their friendship—even asking if they’re boyfriends.

Echoing Dhont’s own memories of distancing himself from friends, we see the more popular Léo begin to put up walls with Rémi, hampering their connection, which leads to a fallout no one saw coming.