Events

In the summer of 1991, a wealthy widow was beaten and stabbed to death at a beautiful villa in the south of France. Omar Raddad, the woman’s Moroccan gardener, became the prime suspect because of one bizarre clue: the words “Omar m’a tuer”—a grammatically incorrect phrase that roughly translates as “Omar has kill me” — written in the victim’s blood. Despite gaps in the investigation and no forensic evidence, Raddad was convicted and sent to prison for 18 years. Only Pierre-Emmanuel Vaugrenard, a journalist, believed in his innocence and went to work to prove it. Director Roschdy Zem, who has turned from acting (with Bouajila in Days of Glory) to directing, tells this story of racism, politics, and injustice with the clarity of a documentary and the pacing of a thriller.

2011. France. 85 min.
Director: Roschdy Zem
Writers: Olivier Gorce, Roschdy Zem, based on Pourquois Moi? by Omar Raddad with the collaboration of Sylvie Lotiron
Producers: Jean Bréhat, Rachid Bouchareb
Executive Producer: Muriel Merlin
Director of Photography: Jérôme Alméras
Editor: Monica Coleman
Producti on Design er: François Emmanuelli
Music: Alexandre Azaria
Cast: Sami Bouajila, Denis Popalydés