Philippe Petit

Philippe Petit
Period: 2015-2016
Profession: Screenwriter Filmmaker, Philippe Petit was born in 1971. After studying directing at ESAV – École Supérieure d’Audiovisuel de Toulouse and a Master’s degree in film directing at INSAS – Institut Supérieur des Arts de Bruxelles in 1998, he settled in Paris. His universe is inspired by the exposure of characters in crisis in a raw, contemporary reality, offbeat beings whose search for freedom challenges social conventions. He is the author and director of numerous short and medium-length films, including
Primes de Match , presented at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival in 1998,
Digital Cut in 2010, presented at the Hors pistes Festival at Beaubourg, and
Buffer Zone in 2014, presented at the FID – Festival international du documentaire de Marseille and the Rencontres du moyen métrage de Brive. He worked on the feature films Insouciants, made in 2004 and presented at the Festival Némo, and
Danger Dave , presented at the San Sebastian Film Festival and awarded at the Nordost Film Festival and the Madrid Film Festival in 2014. In 1997, he met Quentin Dupieux, with whom he has collaborated on numerous projects. He has also embarked on an acting career. Recently, he appeared in the short film
Au Lac, by Roland Edzard in 2013, in the feature films
Eden by Mia Hansen Love in 2014 and
Marie et les naufrages by Sebastien Betbeder in 2015. Some of his films are collected in Anthologie d’un cinéaste punk, a DVD box set published by Shellac in 2015. Philippe Petit’s project at Villa Médicis will be devoted to the writing and location scouting of a film chronicling the difficulties faced by a landscape gardener in his forties, who struggles to make a living from his creative work. Set in the world of gardens and parks, the film conjures up a visual and aural universe whose reality is at odds with the often watered-down image attached to it. Sandor’s struggle unfolds around a raw and powerful territory, with great metaphorical evocative power : an ambiguous character, (played by the writer-director) nourished by tenacity and engaged in a struggle that questions his own nature.