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PRODUCTION France

Zem’s Omar M’a Tuer looks back at Omar Raddad case

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Final preparations are underway before shooting starts on actor Roschdy Zem’s second directorial feature: Omar M'a Tuer (“Omar Killed Me”).

After his debut feature Bad Faith [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(2006), the director this time looks back at a criminal case that received much media coverage in the 1990s: the murder of a rich widow and the conviction of her gardener Omar Raddad, who was later partially pardoned by the French President as it was strongly suspected there had been a miscarriage of justice.

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The film’s cast includes Sami Bouajila (who stars alongside Zem in Outside the Law [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, to be screened at Cannes), Maurice Bénichou, Denis Podalydès and Salomé Stévenin.

Adapted by the director, Olivier Gorce, Olivier Lorelle and Rachid Bouchareb from Raddad’s book Pourquoi Moi? (“Why Me?”), Omar M'a Tuer recounts how the gardener was accused of murdering the widow who employed him in Mougins in 1991. The finger pointed at him primarily because of the words written in blood on a wall at the scene of the crime: "Omar m’a tuer".

The grammatical mistake in this phrase (it should have read “Omar m’a tuée”) attracted a lot of press attention until the trial in 1994 when the gardener was sentenced to 18 years in prison. He was later partially pardoned by the French President, leading to his release in 1998.

Bouajila will play Raddad, while Bénichou will appear as lawyer Jacques Vergès and Podalydès as a police detective.

Produced by Bouchareb and Jean Bréhat for 3B Productions, Omar M'a Tuer has co-production backing from France 2 Cinéma and pre-acquisitions from Canal + and Ciné Cinéma.

Shooting will take place from mid-May to mid-July in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Languedoc-Roussillon regions, as well as in Paris and Tunisia. All the rights (theatrical, video distribution and international sales) have been bought by Mars Films.

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(Translated from French)

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