The French audiovisual sector is losing great talent. Director Valentin Petit, 32, died this weekend in the crash of a tourist plane in Switzerland, which killed three people. His family confirmed the information to Berry Républicain.
On Saturday, a plane took off from La Chaux-de-Fonds airport in Switzerland for a tourist flight. On board the pilot, aged about seventy, Valentin Petit and another passenger. The three occupants of the plane died after it crashed in a steep area in the canton of Neuchâtel, in the west of the country.
The plane ride was a birthday treat
This plane ride was “a birthday present that a loved one had given him,” says Valentin Petit’s father at Berry Républicain. The director was to celebrate his 33rd birthday on Monday. “We will have to recover the body, which must first be autopsied, to bring it home,” explains his father, who says he is “devastated” since learning the terrible news.
Valentin Petit had made a name for himself in the production of music videos. He has collaborated with many renowned French and international artists, such as Pharrell Williams, Nekfeu, Roméo Elvis and Rosalía. In 2023, he shot the clip for the song “Not even a grind” by rapper Ziak. Posted last January on YouTube, the video now has more than six million views.
In addition to music videos, Valentin Petit made commercials but also short films. Since the announcement of his death, tributes from players in the music and audiovisual industry have multiplied on social networks.