Body of Crime

Léolo Victor-Pujebet is a filmmaker and visual artist whose work, oscillating between portraiture and militant engagement, is rooted in a resolutely political approach. His short films, selected by international festivals, mark the beginning of a singular filmography that explores the boundaries between cinema and critical thought. In 2023, he directed his first feature film, Le Corps du Délit, a hybrid work featuring Mathieu Morel, Denis Lavant, Bertrand Bonello, Mathieu Carrière, Julien Gaspar Oliveri, and Éric Genovèse of the Comédie-Française. This experimental docu-fiction unfolds in two movements: on one hand, giving voice to women who are victims of police violence; on the other, staging a young fictional gay activist whose fervor intertwines love and political commitment. Léolo evokes the spirit of the Nouvelle Vague while drawing inspiration from the radical and incandescent writings of Jean Genet, Ulrike Meinhof, and Michel Foucault. Selected by around ten international festivals and screened at the Cinémathèque française as part of the cycle “Aujourd’hui le cinéma,” the film stands as a vibrant declaration of love to its actor and companion, Mathieu Morel.

A close collaborator of Christophe Honoré, for whom he worked as script supervisor and casting director, Léolo has also worked alongside Fabienne Berthaud and Romane Bohringer. Along with Mathieu Morel, filmmaker and actor, he founded HORSCHAMP, an association aiming to foster dialogues between the worlds of auteur cinema, photography, and contemporary art. Together, they organize public discussions with major figures such as Larry Clark, Sébastien Lifshitz, Noël Dolla, Thomas Vinterberg, Nicole Garcia, Harry Gruyaert, Harmony Korine, Raymond Depardon, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Volker Schlöndorff, Patrick Zachmann, Ruben Östlund, and Wakefield Poole. These encounters, held in Paris or at festivals, nourish the duo's reflection and artistic work, contributing to an intellectual effervescence around the image.

In parallel, Léolo Victor-Pujebet explores visual arts through photography, with exhibitions at the Berlin gallery “We Are Village” and at Villa Arson. He is currently editing his next feature film, a documentary portrait of the philosopher and sociologist Geoffroy de Lagasnerie, enriched by readings from Édouard Louis, Rachida Brakni, and Emmanuelle Béart.