OMAR KILLED ME

Directed by Roschdy ZEM

SYNOPSIS

Marseille, February 2, 1994. Omar Raddad, a Moroccan gardener, is sentenced to 18 years for the murder of a wealthy widow for whom he was working. During the investigation, numerous elements seemed to indicate that the inspection has not been done properly. The alteration of the date of the victim’s death, untaken fingerprints on the crime scene,  the sudden suspicious incineration of the victim’s body, the disappearance of witness that could have helped Omar…. However, all these elements combined were not enough in the eyes of a legal system revealed as self-satisfied, incapable of admitting its own errors, and to no small degree, racist.

In 1994, a journalist convinced by Raddad’s innocence, started to defend his case. Together they investigated one of the most shocking miscarriages of justice of the last 20 years.  Their conclusion is that there are two justices, one for the powerful, one for the poor. The universal matter of social injustice, a symbol here in that case, but a reality that we can all face in every society and fight for.

ABOUT…

“Omar” is not a search for a culprit. Above all it is the testimony of a man intimate with the workings of justice – its mechanisms, its agents, its institutions, all described with all the intensity of one who has experienced them from the inside. A testimony, and a thriller that takes as its backdrop of the most sensational news stories of the 90s.

7 years after his incarceration, Omar Raddad received a presidential pardon from Jacques Chirac but was not proved innocent. To this day, Omar continues the battle to prove his innocence. A battle against a «justice» that resembles a nightmare straight out of Kafka. A battle of a trapped man fought with all the righteous anger of a one claiming his innocence since 1994.

From the book «Pourquoi Moi» by Omar Raddad

In collaboration with Sylvie Lotiron (ÉDITIONS DU SEUIL)

Freely inspired by «OMAR : LA CONSTRUCTION D’UN COUPABLE» by Jean-Marie Rouart (EDITIONS DE FALLOIS)

FRANCE  ///  French  ///  Drama /// 85’

CAST Sami BOUAJILA, Denis PODALYDES /// PRODUCERS Jean BREHAT, Rachid BOUCHAREB /// EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Muriel MERLIN /// CO- PRODUCER Rachid BOUCHAREB /// PRODUCTION COMPANY TESSALIT PRODUCTIONS /// CO-PRODUCTION COMPANIES MARS FILMS, FRANCE 2 CINEMA, HOLE IN ONE FILMS, SOREAD-2M (MAROC), SNRT (MAROC) /// SCREENPLAY, ADAPTATION, DIALOGS Olivier GORCE, Roschdy ZEM /// ADAPTATION Rachid BOUCHAREB, Olivier LORELLE /// FRENCH DISTRIBUTION MARS FILMS///