Vache Folle

Local title
Hull lehm
Original title
Vache Folle
Director
Hugo Diego Garcia, Lorenzo Bentivoglio
Year
2025
Festival
29th Black Nights Film Festival
Programme
Genre

No medals, no home – just a father’s fight to be seen before he disappears for good.

In the wild, untamed highlands of rural France, Cédric Poncet (Hugo Diego Garcia) is living in exile from his own life. The former soldier is scarred by war and has been abandoned by the very system that shaped him. Estranged from his daughter and ex-wife, who now live with a hostile new partner, he finds fragile peace in the quiet rhythm of nature and the silent gaze of cows – his only witnesses. Yearning for connection, dignity, and the love he once had, Cédric is slowly pulled into a spiral of desperation and defiance.

“Vache Folle” is an emotionally charged debut co-directed by Hugo Diego Garcia and Lorenzo Bentivoglio. Garcia delivers a magnetic performance, revealing himself to be a versatile storyteller capable of capturing both raw masculinity and aching vulnerability. Shot through a noir lens, the film fuses realism with haunting lyricism to offer a visceral portrait of a man at war with himself and a world that has forgotten him

Milani Perera

Director
Hugo Diego Garcia, Lorenzo Bentivoglio
Screenwriter
Hugo Diego Garcia
Cast
Hugo Diego Garcia, Laure Valax, Jennifer Decastro, Victor Nicolai, David Zivko, Joe Prestia, Lorenzo Bentivoglio
Producer
Malo Garcia, David Zivkovic, Hugo Diego Garcia, Lorenzo Bentivoglio, Jordan Evrard
Cinematographer
Lorenzo Bentivoglio
Production Design
David Zivko
Editing
Hugo Diego Garcia, Lorenzo Bentivoglio
Composer
Malo Garcia
Production
Karanta Zero
Runtime
Language
Subtitles
Director
Hugo Diego Garcia

Hugo Diego Garcia is a French-Spanish actor. He pursued both boxing and law school. He went on to study theater and cinema in Lyon and Paris, afterwards moving to Los Angeles and adding writer and director to his resume. His first two short films were "Tony" (2018) and "Cagnolino"(2019) which were screened at numerous festivals. He landed an acting role in Coralie Fargeat´s "The Substance” (2024). At 26, he wrote, produced and co-directed (with Lorenzo Bentiviglio) his first feature film "Vache Folle” (2025), where he also plays the lead role.
Filmography:
Vache Folle (2025, co-dir)

Director
Lorenzo Bentivoglio

Lorenzo Bentivoglio is a French-Italian actor and filmmaker. He began acting in short films directed by Hugo Diego Garcia, like "Tony" (2018) and "Cagnolino" (2019) with whom he later co-directed "Vache Folle" (2025), their first feature film. In the film, he also serves as a producer, director of photography and appears in the cast.
Filmography:
Vache Folle (2025, co-dir)

Screenings

Screening110920 / Hull lehm
SubtitlesEnglish
Q&A duration
Screening duration
Trailer