With Dust, Anke Blondé and Angelo Tijssens have created a film that deliberately defies the logic of reconstruction. Taking the Lernout & Hauspie scandal as their starting point, they resolutely opt for fiction—not to rewrite the facts, but to dig deeper.

Dust takes place in the final hours before the collapse of a Flemish technology company that seemed poised to conquer the world. Instead of Jo and Pol, we follow Luc (Jan Hammenecker) and Geert (Arieh Worthalter): two men on the brink of power, illusion, and self-destruction.

What follows is not a chronology of fraud, but a feverish journey through the psyche of the “white-collar man,” driven by an insatiable hunger for recognition. While the outside world prepares for the unmasking, the characters move through chilly offices, reflective interiors, and a desolate West Flemish landscape that slowly transforms into a psychological labyrinth.

With a refined visual language and understated humor, Dust dissects not only economic hubris but also a form of masculinity in which status and emptiness go hand in hand. The film balances between irony and tragedy, between detachment and empathy, and elevates a quintessentially Flemish story to a level of international class.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)