
Simon Frenay
Acting
Biography
Trained at the Cours Florent, he began his career as an actor, notably appearing in films by Robert Guédiguian and the duo Olivier Ducastel & Jacques Martineau, while also working on international sets and in television. He quickly shifted his focus behind the camera. His first produced short film, Youssou & Malek, was selected in around forty festivals worldwide and received several awards, establishing a distinctive voice that is both intimate and political. With Carpobrotus, in which he also performs, he continues this sensitive exploration of identity and desire. He is currently developing If She Is Somewhere, a project rooted in his Réunionese origins, while also shooting a documentary dedicated to the reconstruction of young exiles who have crossed the Mediterranean. At the crossroads of romanticism and reality, his cinema explores queer narratives grounded in contemporary social and racial issues. Echoing his artistic work, he founded the association Sous le Même Ciel in 2020, a deeply committed initiative supporting exiled people, with a strong focus on unaccompanied minors, whose on-the-ground engagement profoundly nourishes his films.
Known For

Clem follows the life of a young teenager, Clémentine, who becomes a mother at the age of sixteen, at the centre of tensions between her parents and Julien, the father of her child Valentin. It deals with the problems of teenage life and that of a mother with a strong personality.
Clem

Théo and Hugo meet in a club and form an immediate bond. Once the desire and elation of this first moment has passed, the two young men, now sober, wander through the empty streets of nocturnal Paris, having to confront the love they sense blossoming between them.
Paris 05:59 / Théo & Hugo

Describes everyday life in a Lyon LGBT centre, examining the initial political, emotional and sexual life of a man who recently came out as gay.
Woke

This gripping historical drama recounts the story of Armenian-born Missak Manouchian, a woodworker and political activist who led an immigrant laborer division of the Parisian Resistance on 30 operations against the Nazis in 1943. The Nazis branded the group an Army of Crime, an anti-immigrant propaganda stunt that backfired as the team's members became martyrs for the Resistance.
Army of Crime

Ramón and Céline are a young couple that attended a concert at the Bataclan theatre in Paris on the fateful night of November 13, 2015. They survive the attack, but when they leave the theatre, they are no longer the same. That night leaves a deep scar on both their lives and each tries to cope.
One Year, One Night

A union pensioner and his wife are robbed, but find that merely getting the assailants brought to justice is not enough for their consciences.
The Snows of Kilimanjaro

A love left unsaid on the football field, a third invite to a high-rise tête-à-tête, a fast-approaching farewell and a friendship that evolves into something complicated. Lose yourself in these five stories from France that are handled with grace, maturity and a tender touch. The 5 short films are: 9th Floor to the Right [9ème étage droite] (2022); Hugo: 6:30 [Hugo : 18h30] (2020); Cary & James (2023); For the Love of the Game [Pour l'amour du jeu] (2023); Youssou & Malek [Youssou et Malek] (2022).
The Male Gaze : French Connection

Christophe, a young horse racing jockey from Paris, is filled with hope and ambition. Yet after a race, he tests positive for illegal substances and is subsequently suspended from racing. He decides to move to Macau, in Asia. There his circumstances change very quickly: he wins one race after another, earning himself large amounts of money and success with women. But, his new life also brings him an ever-increasing sense of solitude. Macau has its own unspoken rules that Christophe thinks he can ignore. But events start to gain momentum as the net tightens around him. Motivated by love for an intriguing young Chinese woman, Christophe ends up gambling with his own destiny, but this time on the card tables.
Stretch

At sixty years old, two friends in financial difficulties are going to take advantage of their image in the fashion and advertising world. One is still beautiful, the other never was. But beyond the game of appearances, what does it really mean to be of retirement age today?
Sweet Sixty

Based on Rabindranath Tagore’s famous short story 'Kabuliwala', the film is about a young girl’s quest to discover more about her dead father’s friend who used to play bioscope shows for her as a kid.
Bioscopewala

Four gay men and a straight woman who barely know each other find themselves in an apartment in the sky above Paris. They have all been the victim of the same domineering pervert who is locked in a room. That night, they decided to finish it. In turn, they tell each other memories that bind them to this man and enter the room to confront him. But what happens between the monster and them remains their secret.
Don't Look Down

Shab is a story that revolves around multiple characters' search for happiness and love in a complex, unforgiving, and cold city.
Night

Thirsty one night stands, confused straight boys, rooftop confessions and a ménage-à-trois that explodes with hilarious results - it's all just part of the package in this latest offering of spirited story-telling from our Gallic friends. The short films are: Discreet [Scred] (2017); Distinguished Feelings [Sentiments distingués] (2019); Rue des Roses (2012); First Love [Premier amour] (2021); The Edge [4 fromages] (2019); Without Transition [Sans transition] (2021); Fragile [Babtou fragile] (2021).
The French Boys 4

Faces is a multi-narrative feature film set across four storylines that follow a group of characters as their lives begin to unravel. Aisha is in a marriage that has become stale. When her wish to get pregnant finally becomes reality, she receives some very unexpected news. Louie and Gaspard are a gay couple who are happily in love but when Louie’s female financée suddenly shows up in the picture, all that they hold dear begins to fall apart. Adam and Luke are best friends, but an attack on Adam at a party threatens to create a schism between them. Sindiso runs a charity for women to which she has dedicated herself. When the centre begins to have financial troubles with the real risk of closing, Sindiso has to question her fundamental motivations.
Faces

On a sprawling urban suburbia during a sweltering summer, two young boys in love are at an impasse. Youssou has an opportunity to study abroad with a prestigious scholarship, while his boyfriend Malek advances in his art degree at a local school. As the pair wrestle with these destinies that are pulling them apart, their friends attempt to untangle the ambitions of these star-crossed lovers, all while tensions rise with the police who patrol the neighbourhood.
Youssou & Malek

Due to the relocation of their company, three former employees have taken their ex manager hostage. But when their ransom demand is rejected, they have no choice but to prove how far they can go.
At All Costs

Ile du Levant. Holidays with friends. A film about desire, love and the difficulty to express it - about loss, and loneliness.
Carpobrotus

Léto, a young trans and gay man, lives in a small, social housing apartment near Tours. During the day, he kills boredom on his phone from the ticket booth of a movie theater on its last legs. But where he's looking for feelings, he's only offered sex. So at night, he flees disillusionment by heading for the stars. The roof of his high-rise building is like his moped: a refuge, an escape. However, one morning, the parking lot of an ice rink becomes the setting for a life-changing encounter when he comes face to face with Hamza, a solitary employee with an enigmatic charm. The emotional disturbance is immediate. With all due respect to the scoundrels!
Not That Kind of Guy

Elias is a young French guy who has moved to Barcelona. In his country of origin, he has nobody but his grandmother, whom he hasn't seen for ten years. Unwillingly, he works as a prostitute in order to survive, even if he fears AIDS. The other streetwalkers, who once were his new family, now make him feel irritated and distant, even though one of them is in love with him. The only person he is fond of is a scared young boy who often goes to the parish youth club and is under the supervision of a strict priest. Perhaps that child reminds him of his childhood and has the same insecurities he had. This is what is happening to Elias: he's not satisfied with his present, while his past is a tangle of unsolved problems. What does the future hold for him?
Elias

Henry and Clement are in a relationship for one month in Paris. The last night before Henry goes back to London, where he studies, Clement comes to his hotel to surprise him. But when he arrives at the door, he hears that Henry is with another man in the room...