When Two Souls Begin to Tremble: A Young Version of "Call Me by Your Name"

（ Film poster of Young Heart ）

Written and directed by Belgian director Anthony Schatteman, Young Hearts (2024) is a queer coming-of-age story that follows two 14-year-old boys who meet one summer and gradually develop feelings for each other. Many viewers have described it as a homo version of Flipped (2010) or a youthful take on Call Me by Your Name.

The film stars Lou Goossens as Elias, a boy living in a small village who has always maintained a close bond with his friend Valerie. His world is suddenly changed when Alexander, played by Marius De Saeger, moves in next door after relocating from Brussels due to his father's work. As classmates, the two boys spend their days together in and out of school, growing closer until they become inseparable.

( Movie Stills of Young Heart )

Elias found himself falling for the handsome boy before him, yet when Alexander openly confessed his attraction to boys, Elias remained trapped in the turmoil of his own gender identity. This self-protective instinct led him to unconsciously push away those around him, leaving him stranded in an emotional whirlpool with no solace. The collapse of a friendship and misunderstandings from loved ones left the adolescent Elias feeling deeply wounded. However, time spent with his grandfather brought clarity, inspiring him to finally confess the truth to his parents. To his surprise, they responded with calm acceptance and understanding, embracing him with open hearts.

The film concludes on a tender and hopeful note, resonating deeply with audiences through its sincere storytelling. Breaking away from the explicit depictions of sexuality often found in queer cinema, it simply portrays two innocent hearts coming together, understanding each other, and falling in love. Perhaps, as the director has often noted, reality holds endless possibilities—what he presents is simply one version of happiness among many.

When the audience glimpses the bittersweet struggles of youth through these poignant frames, we come to realize that what truly matters is not how we recount those once-suppressed emotions, but rather the ability to speak of them with the gentle lightness that comes from having endure while preserving a beautiful hope for this world and an enduring faith in love.

As Schatteman's debut feature, Young Hearts was selected for the Generation Kplus program at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it received the Crystal Bear Special Mention for Best Film. The director had previously explored similar themes in several acclaimed short films, including The Man Unknown (2021), Follow Me(2015), and Kiss Me Softtly (2012).

( Director Anthony Shadman receives the certificate at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival )

Having earned critical acclaim at film festivals, Young Hearts was acquired by UK distributor Peccadillo Pictures, with its British premiere scheduled for early August 2025. Green Light Screening was invited to attend the screening and had the opportunity to engage in a brief exchange and interview with the director about the film prior to the event.

Green Light Screening: I know you’ve made several short films themed on queer cinmea before. This time, for Young Hearts, is the very first feature long film for you. I wonder what’s the difference between making this long feature film and the previous short films in terms of production and the way you approach the film directing?

Anthony: Of course it’s different to make a long film rather than a short film. This one was based on a short when I did in 2012 with no budgets. So the biggest difference is of course budget. In short films, you do it with your friends, and you do it with people you know. They all work for free. But suddenly now, everyone was paid—it’s a real deal.

With short films you can still experiment, but in your first feature, it needs to be good. So there was much stress involved. But you also worked longer on it. I wrote it for four years. It makes the story better and better. I think it’s nicer to work on a long film because you really go very deep into the emotions.

Short film is fifteen minutes. That’s too short to put emotions in it. But in long films, you can take your time. It’s a whole different thing. But the coolest thing is that in all short films, you can do all different things. You can try to work with all different people. And it made me become a better director. To try new things, also to fail in anything. Some things didn’t work. But it doesn’t matter, I think. It’s really important to make a lot of short films, and then work on your long film.

( Director of Photography of Young Heart, Pieter Van Campe )

Green Light Screening: Yeah. I think many directors, before they become famous, they all make some short films as a preparation or basis for their future long films.

Anthony: And it’s already a topic that will be in all my long films, I think.

Green Light Screening: That’s great. I remember in your previous interview, you mentioned that this film was somehow dedicated to your younger self or your childhood. So, I wonder is there any part that was imcompleted in your childhood that you want to put it in your current film? And also, is there any beautiful or sad memories from your past that you try to refine or re-embellish in your current film?

Anthony: Nice question. I think when we were young, I have a lot of memories of summer, because in summer we had two months off. The only thing we did was just bike around. We swam. I felt super free. I really wanted to put this freedom in my movie. And it worked. I went back to all the places. Everything was shot in my hometown. Everything is very close by.

Green Light Screening: It’s more like a countryside place.

( Movie Stills of Young Heart )

Anthony: Yes, it’s a countryside place close to Ghent. It’s called Wetteren. I was looking for a lot of locations, but after months of location hunting, I felt I’m just gonna do it in my hometown. It was a good decision, because I really know all the locations—the farm, my school. The moment I was there, I saw these boys biking. I felt I saw myself a bit and that worked. That authenticity was really important for me in the movie.

Green Light Screening: I think it’s a good choice, because many people try to imitate the original scenes, but it’s always the best if you choose the very original hometown.

Anthony: At the beginning, I think maybe it’s too easy to find much more beautiful streets, schools or farms. But everyone of my crew didn’t see some sparkle in my eyes when we visited a hundred farms. The moment I took them to this real authentic farm, they said you have to do it here. They felt my heart is there as well.

Green Light Screening: That’s beautiful. I would like to talk about the acting part. I think the performances of the two actors really impressed me a lot. They hit my heart and were very touching. Although I would say the whole vibe of the film is a bit bittersweet and tender, I believe it must contain lots of pain, struggles, confusion, or even sorrow so from your past.

I wonder how you approach the acting when they perform in the film? I noticed in the interview, you said that you also requested a therapist called Oliver to help you with your casting and directing. I want to know more about it. Is there any improvisations? Or are the lines strict to the written script?

( Lou Goossens plays Elias in the film )

( Marius De Saeger plays Alexander in the film )

Anthony: For us, it was really important that the boys didn’t really learn the dialogues word by word, because then it’s not natural. We worked on emotions, which for us, were the most important thing.

These two boys didn’t know what love was. They didn’t know what I went through. But Oliver had a good method in working on emotions. We had a lot of talks about what makes you happy and what makes you scared. Although we all had different stories, they had the same emotions. So they understood what I was afraid of when I came out.

It was in this early process that Lou started crying with us and I started crying. We were not afraid any more to show our emotions on set. And that made it happen. These boys felt super free, but also very safe with us. So a lot is improvisation—I think half of the film is improvisation. Super happy with the talent of these boys, because they could also be themselves and they were not afraid to be themselves. That was cool, although they didn’t tell me they like boys or girls. That was not important. They just felt safe to be themselves. And it worked out really well.

Green Light Screening: That’s amazing. I think it applies to all of us in this world, because stories are different for people, but the emotions or resonance are all universal and common.

Anthony: And you know, love is something we all have.

Green Light Screening: Of course. Love! Next, I want to go more deeply into the characters themselves. We know in the story, Elias, one of the characters who’s more timid, likes another girl. Although we wouldn’t say she’s really his girlfriend. Maybe, I think for his age, it’s something more casual. But he did have a very close friend who’s female called Valerie.

After he met Alexander, who’s the other character, he certainly fell in love with him. But he rarely showed his struggles or confusion toward the emotions for Alexander with Valerie.

At the end of the story, we felt Valerie seems to be abandoned or betrayed. When I saw this film, I had these feelings. I don’t know what other people think. I wonder, from the standpoint of Valerie, is there anything you try to say for the audiences?

( Saar Rogiers plays Valerie in the film )

Anthony: Well, I felt she was strong enough to deal with it, and I think when we’re young, we all look for our voice. It was a choice that we made in the edit, because we had a scene where he went saying sorry. But it felt a bit too much. I also felt some independency that I really liked in her.

We all have to go through these horror scenes in our lives. But it also makes us stronger. When you’re surrounded by good friends and family, you become a much more stronger person. So I was saying this to the girl: your heart will break. All my heart was also broken when I was young, but if you find the force to go further, you’ll be a stronger version of yourself. So that was my message to all the broken hearts.

Green Light Screening: Certainly. We saw her getting stronger at the end of the film. She’s free to ride her bicycle and she doesn’t care about it any more.

Anthony: I think that the one look in the tent where the boys kiss says it all. So that’s why I didn’t need the scene any more where he goes say sorry.

Green Light Screening: Compared to Elias, I think Alexander feels more mature and proactive for us. His sexual self-awareness seems to have come very earlier in his age—from the very natural scene telling Elias his ex was the boy to the scene where he told Elias that he did not care what other people think about their relationship when having a fight at the sports field.

I would say, in many ways, Alexander demonstrates unusually strong queer self-awareness of his age among other people. I’m curious what shaped the sense of identity for him and does it reflect a broader trend among younger LGBTQ+ people today toward greater openness of the gender identity?

( Movie Stills of Young Heart )

Anthony: I think nowadays it’s different, because everyone knows a lot of terms. hen we were young, you were just gay or straight. I think it’s even harder for young people now to find their voice because there are so many options. Who are you? Are you pansexual or asexual? I would freak out, I think. Some kids told me that if you're not queer anymore, you are different.

I just wanted to have a story for everyone who felt a little bit different. It was not about being gay or straight. When you feel alone, it could be because you feel a bit too thin, too thick. There are so many things you can struggle with when you were young. And it’s so hard to find your voice to grow up. It’s the worst, the most scary thing that exists. So I just wanted to have this story being in a small village.

It’s different than grow up in a big city like Brussels, London or Paris, because there are so many examples and you have more people. But in my village, I was the only gay. So it was really hard to tell everyone, because I just wanted to be normal—Elias as well, he’s afraid to have conflicts. He wants to be a little bit invisible to avoid making a story about him all the time. So that’s why he’s needs to grow in accepting his queerness. He just doesn't like to be looked at.

Green Light Screening: I think the charm or the characteristics of queerness is right about you don’t have to define who you are and has so many different possibilities. It’s a very good answer. I have a last question.

( Movie stills of Monster )

Young Hearts reminds me of Monster directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. I think they are similar, because it’s all about a coming-age story and centered on homosexual youths. But for me, Monster is set in an East Asian family context, which is quite different from Young Hearts.

Given the longstanding conversertism towards sex education in East Asia, the kids tend to hide their feelings rather than speak out of who they truly love. Plus, they would feel their parents wouldn’t be approved of this relationship. I noticed some comments from East Asian audiences who may criticize that the end of the story where the parents feel relieved and reconciled after Elias told them I’m gay and I love a boy. They will say maybe it’s a bit too ideal. How do you see such differences between the Eastern and Western narrative strategies?

Anthony: For me, it was not really about life in different cultures, but it was about like having one example where you can have an happy ending, although I know for some people, it’s not reality. I just wanted to have it as a dream. When you feel bad, you know there’s one Disney version of the reality that can happen. So many people tell me that they have a hard time with their parents who kick them out. But seeing my film, it makes them believe again.

( Movie Stills of Young Heart )

So that’s something I wanted to show every culture. It’s so cool to see a lot of cultures like a happy story. Although it was not my reality, and some people tell me it’s so easy to come out in your town—of course not! I think it doesn’t matter if you’re in Europe, America, or in Asia. It’s everyone needs to deal with this story. If you’re surrounded by love and you open up communication about love, then everything can work out.

Green Light Screening: Yeah. Cinema is about dream, and I think that’s the dream for us. Thank you so much for having us today. I hope the film goes well in the cinema, and I think people will all love it.

Anthony: Thank you.

( The founder of Green Ray takes a group photo with the director )