'Girl' trivia and fun facts

Inspiration

Lukas Dhont got his inspiration for the film in 2009 when he read a newspaper article about a Belgian girl assigned male at birth who aspired to become a ballerina. In 2018, she attended the Cannes premiere.

Debuting actor

This film marks lead actor Victor Polster's acting debut.

Genderless casting

The casting call for the protagonist was genderless, i.e. open for girls, boys, and those who were neither. 500 people between 14 and 17 auditioned but none of them could both dance and act well, so the filmmakers decided to cast the rest of the dancers first, and there they found Victor Polster.

Race for the Oscar

This film has been selected to represent Belgium for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards.