Flesh & Fuel

Long-haul truck driver Étienne covers vast distances across Europe every day in his rig. His life is dictated by a logistics company’s strict schedule, traffic, and demanding clients. He rarely opens up to human intimacy—save for fleeting encounters with other gay truckers at the edge of a rest stop or in the back of a stranger’s cab. But with Bartosz, a quick hookup evolves into a genuine connection. The Polish trucker boldly laughs in the face of loneliness, and Étienne finds he can no longer do without him. Yet, how can they be together when both are constantly on the road?

Is there such a thing as love without borders, and what impact does economic pressure have on a budding relationship? In "FLESH & FUE", director Pierre Le Gall empathetically explores the lives of the people who crisscross Europe in their trucks, almost without pause. In doing so, he dispels the stereotype of a supposedly homophobic working class: the love between Étienne and Bartosz is never the problem—though it faces an uphill battle in a world where one’s country of origin dictates one’s prospects for prosperity. Yet, even that cannot stop them. A realistic yet hopeful portrait of a great love, honored at Cannes with the Special Queer Palm Revelation.