LONDON
VICTOR DI MARCO + MÁRCIO PICOLI | BRAZIL | 2026 | 90 MIN | PORTUGUESE EST + FST
VICTOR DI MARCO + MÁRCIO PICOLI | BRAZIL | 2026 | 90 MIN | PORTUGUESE EST + FST
Subtitles: French, English
Synopsis
The life of a young queer Brazilian man living with a degenerative neurological condition, who works nights as a fetish master in an S&M club. Raw and unflinching yet unexpectedly tender, this debut feature explores marginalisation, the fierce will to live, and the search for one’s true self. London moves between the S&M club where he works as a fetish master, the hospital he visits reluctantly, and occasional visits to his mother and younger sister, who lives with the same condition. He finds a sense of kinship with a disabled colleague and, from time to time, connects with men and women, sexually or otherwise. Following a series of short films, directing duo Victor di Marco and Márcio Picoli deliver a deeply affecting debut feature, awarded the Queer Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Eschewing sentimentality, the camera stays close to its anti-hero as he struggles to understand who he is, driven by a restless, almost desperate energy. Di Marco, who shares London’s condition, gives a powerful, nuanced performance in the title role. A striking portrait of creativity, freedom, and resilience.
Trailer
Filmmaker Bio
Victor Di Marco (1996) is a queer, disabled Brazilian actor, director and screenwriter, and Márcio Picoli (1994) is a queer Brazilian director, screenwriter and producer. Both were born and raised in Porto Alegre and began their film careers in 2019. Their shorts Victor's Body (2020), Bittersweet Power (2022) and ZAGÉRO (2024) have earned over 70 awards across more than 200 festivals. Longtime creative and romantic partners, they wrote and directed four shorts before making London, their debut feature, which premiered at Venice’s Settimana Internazionale della Critica in 2026.
Director's Statement
Victor Di Marco: “I wanted to create a physical language on screen, too, where my body had this particular intelligence and way of living in this world that belonged to me only. […] I wanted to cause a friction in the audience. […] Desire is a very open thing; it is uncontrollable, it doesn’t respond to how we might want to label it.”
Filmmaker Bio
Victor Di Marco (1996) is a queer, disabled Brazilian actor, director and screenwriter, and Márcio Picoli (1994) is a queer Brazilian director, screenwriter and producer. Both were born and raised in Porto Alegre and began their film careers in 2019. Their shorts Victor's Body (2020), Bittersweet Power (2022) and ZAGÉRO (2024) have earned over 70 awards across more than 200 festivals. Longtime creative and romantic partners, they wrote and directed four shorts before making London, their debut feature, which premiered at Venice’s Settimana Internazionale della Critica in 2026.
Director's Statement
Márcio Picoli : « London est un projet qui dialogue directement avec un thème central de notre carrière : remettre en question la manière dont les personnes en situation de handicap sont perçues dans la société comme des corps à réparer. […] »
Producer
Laura Moglia, Márcio Picoli, Victor Di Marco, Aline Gutierres
Writer
Victor Di Marco, Márcio Picoli
Cast
- Victor Di Marco
- Jéssica Teixeira
- Pedro Bertoldi
- Carla Cassapo
- Priscilla Colombi
- Emilio Farias
- Manu Thedy
