International Documentary Film Festival
April 19 to 26, 2026
Kaptol Boutique Cinema, Zagreb

Paul (Paul)

Denis Côté

Paul

Paul suffers from depression and social anxiety. He leads a solitary and routine-bound life at home. As a big fan of Alice in Wonderland, he’s always thinking up new ways to make his world brighter and artful. One solution he finds is to seek safety and security by doing housework for dominant women. Breaking out of his angst-ridden routine, Paul becomes the deeply submissive Cleaning Simp Paul. Obsessed with his Instagram profile, Paul retreats into a virtual therapeutic fantasy that he calls Cleaning to Save My Life. One insta reel at a time, he fights to achieve inner piece by pleasing his favourite dommes. Filmed from a candid, nonjudgmental perspective, Paul is a portrait of an eccentric but endearing person who delivers a unique take on our sometimes-idiosyncratic quest for well-being.

Canada 2025, '87

DIRECTOR: Denis Côté

CAMERA: Vincent Biron, François Messier-Rheault

MONTAGE: Terence Chotard

MUSIC: Chantale Morin

PRODUCERS: Hany Ouichou, Karine Bélanger

FESTIVALS & AWARDS:

Hot Docs (2025): DGC Special Jury Prize
Berlinale
São Paulo IFF 
CPH:DOX
Buenos Aires IFF (2025)
Doclisboa IFF (2025)
Ji.hlava (2025)
Hong Kong IFF (2025)
Visions du Réel
DOC NYC 

Denis Côté

Denis Côté

Denis Côté (1973, New Brunswick, Canada) produced and directed 15 independent short films while working as a journalist and film critic from 1995 until 2005. His first feature film Les états nordiques (2005) was awarded the video Golden Leopard in Locarno International Film Festival. Vic+Flo Saw A Bear won the Silver Bear for Innovation at Berlinale in 2013. Hygiène sociale won the Best Director Award in the Encounters section at Berlinale in 2021. Denis Côté’s award-winning films have been travelling extensively on the film festival circuit, including more than 40 retrospectives of his work. In 2024, he received the AlbertTessier Prize, the highest cinematic honor in Quebec, in recognition of his entire body of work.

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