Camille Vidal-Naquet (born 20 October 1972,

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the principal city of the ...

) is a French director.

Early life and education

Camille Vidal-Naquet came from an academic background; his parents and siblings are all teachers. He studied Literature, obtaining a master's degree and completing some work towards a PhD. His master's thesis was on literature and film, which he took into the PhD, wanting to write a thesis on

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...

's ''

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'' before trying to look at

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's screenwriting in ''

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'' and then quitting completely to make films. Queer culture scholar David A. Gerstner wrote in a film review that it is the director's academic background that acts as the "driving force for precision" in his work.

Career

Vidal-Naquet's first feature film was 2018's . His experience working with the Catholic charity helped him to create the film. premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in 2018, and became particularly popular with the LGBT+ community in New York City. The film focuses on a young male sex worker, played by

Félix Maritaud Félix Maritaud (born 12 December 1992) is a French actor notable for his roles in French queer cinema. Career Maritaud began to garner recognition after starring in a string of French independent films, most notably ''BPM (Beats per Minute)''. ...

, with frequent explicit sex scenes; Vidal-Naquet "emphasizes hatthe sex we see in is work". During pre-production, Vidal-Naquet and his director of photography Jacques Girault spent months planning out the camera work, performances and, particularly, the lighting and how it would work with other elements; he explained that he "wanted to film the sex scenes to be no different than the others" because "lighting is moral".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal-Naquet, Camille 1972 births French directors People from Nevers Living people