His story provided the material for the successful film “Pretty Best Friends”. Now the paraplegic businessman Philippe Pozzo die Borgo has died at the age of 72.
The paraplegic French businessman Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, whose fate was the basis for the film “Pretty Best Friends”, is dead. The Frenchman died at the age of 72, the newspaper “Le Parisien” reported, citing the brother of the man.
“It is with great sadness that we have just learned of the death of our friend Philippe Pozzo di Borgo,” wrote filmmakers Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache. “By agreeing to have his story made into ‘Bff’, he has changed our lives and the lives of many vulnerable and fragile people.” As Toledano told the AFP news agency, Pozzo di Borgo died in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.
Paralyzed after an accident
Pozzo di Borgo was born in 1951 into a noble Corsican family. The manager of a champagne manufacturer fell while paragliding in 1993 and has been paralyzed from the neck down ever since. After his accident, he hired the then 20-year-old Abdel Sellou as a nurse. At the time, Sellou had just been released from prison.
In his book “Le Second souffle” (in English: “The second air”), published in 2001, Pozzo di Borgo told how, thanks to Sellou’s help, he found his way out of a deep depression.
Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and his former carer Abdel Sellou on the sidelines of a reading in Berlin in 2012.
One of most successful French films
The tragic comedy based on it from 2011 became one of the most successful French films of all time and was nominated for an Oscar, among other things. The film was released in cinemas in around 50 countries worldwide and was also a success in Germany.
In the film, François Cluzet embodies the businessman, while Omar Sy plays a freshly released from prison and always cheerful social welfare recipient who takes on the job of carer. Sy was awarded the César for Best Actor in 2012 for his acting performance. After Pozzo di Borgo’s death became known, he wrote on Instagram: “Forever in our hearts.”