Director's Works
Plongeurs Hector Aponysus
Hector Aponysus is a London based film director represented in the UK by Park Pictures who works across documentary, commercial and music video filmmaking. Hector studied Art History at University College London before going on to assist an artist filmmaker, leading him to pursue his career in film. Hector is drawn to capturing the energy and spirit of people who find creative ways to exist in the world, often taking a deeply immersive approach to capturing these subjects. His ability to find an emotive anchor point - big or small - makes his approach to storytelling tangible and textured by the real life contours of his subject’s worlds.
‘Plongeurs’ (English: divers) is a documentary short exploring masculinity, fearlessness, and freedom on the margins of French society. In Marseille, Plongeurs are known for diving from extreme heights - motorways, clifftops and buildings - into the mediterranean sea. They are both applauded and vilified, regularly featuring in music videos, viral TikTok reels and local news; where journalists report romantic accounts of their exploits. Each summer, a death or severe accident occurs leading the press to turn on the plongeurs, making them mascots for the city’s social ills; often with a thinly veiled racist subtext. The film captures the story of these young men, many from impoverished, immigrant backgrounds, as they navigate the uneasy transition from boyhood to adulthood; revealing how this hazardous pastime helps them to both articulate and negotiate their complex experiences and identities.