Amsterdam, the early 1980s. When a young, guarded journalist named Jan Brokken interviews Youri Egorov, a world-famous pianist who fled the Soviet Union for his sexuality, an unlikely friendship takes hold. Egorov lives out loud, embracing his freedom, his artistry and the city's nightlife; Brokken, quieter and more careful, finds in him the courage to chase his own dream of becoming a writer.

Directed by Sander Burger and drawn from Brokken's own memoir, Youri is both a portrait of a restless decade and an intimate study of a friendship that reshapes two lives.

Sander came to Youri as a director who hadn't worked with an intimacy coordinator before. Our industry had changed a lot since his last film, and from our first conversation it was clear his focus was the intimacy of the friendship itself, not nudity or sex. That's the kind of brief I love, because it means the intimacy lives in the smallest touches, and those are the ones worth getting right.

This was my first feature ánd period piece, which pulled me deep into the research: the era, the AIDS epidemic that shadowed it, the nightlife that gave the story its pulse. Helping give shape to that world, alongside talents like Joes Brauers, Levan Gelbakhiani and the queer cast, was a real gift. Youri reaches cinemas this autumn, and I can't wait to see how it all came together.