Omar Killed Me (2011)

In the summer of 1991 an elderly woman Ghislaine Marchal is found murdered in the basement of her home with the message "Omar M'a Tuer" (Omar has kill me) written beside in her own blood. ... See full summary »

Director:

Roschdy Zem

Writers:

Olivier Gorce (scenario), Roschdy Zem (scenario)

Stars:

Sami Bouajila, Denis Podalydès, Maurice Bénichou

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sami Bouajila	...	Omar Raddad
Denis Podalydès	...	Pierre-Emmanuel Vaugrenard
Maurice Bénichou	...	Jacques Vergès
Salomé Stévenin	...	Maud
Nozha Khouadra	...	Latifa Raddad
Afida Tahri	...	La mère de Latifa
Yanis Abdellaoui	...	Karim enfant
Ayoub El Mahlili	...	Karim jeune garçon
Martial Rivol	...	Président Djian
Lounès Tazairt	...	M. Sheriff (as Lounès Tazaïrt)
Liliane Nataf	...	Mme Marchal
Catherine Salviat	...	Hélène Carrère d'Encausse
Pascal Elso	...	André de Comminges
Didier Vinson	...	Juge Renard
Gabriel Le Doze	...	Maître Beaudoux

Storyline

In the summer of 1991 an elderly woman Ghislaine Marchal is found murdered in the basement of her home with the message "Omar M'a Tuer" (Omar has kill me) written beside in her own blood. Despite a lack of forensic or DNA evidence, her Moroccan gardener Omar Raddad is found guilty and sentenced to 18 years in a French prison. Shocked by the case, and convinced of his innocence, journalist Pierre-Emmanuel Vaugrenard moves to Nice to investigate, and uncover the truth... A powerful and gripping French crime drama depicting a remarkable true story.

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Plot Keywords:

france | prison | journalist | controversy | suicide attempt | 

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Omar Raddad's defense speaks to the press outside the courthouse saying, "A hundred years ago we (France) condemned a younger officer because he was Jewish." Is a direct reference to the Dreyfus Affair. Similar to Raddad, Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully accused and convicted of treason for passing French military secret information to German Embassy and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1894. Despite evidence proving that Dreyfus had not commit treason and a French Army general Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy was the real culprit, Dreyfus continued to endure various court hearings in the same manner as Raddad. In both cases the French justice system was viewed as discriminating against Dreyfus who was Jewish where as Raddad is equally let down by the same system for being Arab and Muslim. Dreyfus was eventually released from prison in 1906 after serving a 12 year sentence.

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Connections

Referenced in C'est qui café ça? (2017)

User Reviews

Roschdy Zem has chosen a great subject for his film about the blindness of justice.

Omar M'a Tuer is about an ordinary person who has been put in prison for a crime which he believes not having committed. Director Roschdy Zem portrays that there are very few possibilities for an ordinary man to defend his honor in a criminal case where the real culprit is enjoying his life elsewhere. As a part legal drama as well as part social commentary, Omar M'a Tuer is a socially relevant film about the ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system in France. About his decision to choose direction it needs to be stated that actors making their foray in the field of cinema is a positive development as they can give much needed boost to films which are based on original content. It can be surmised that while watching "Omar M'a Tuer", those viewers who know much about French culture and history would not hesitate a bit in drawing parallels between the film's tale and Emile Zola's infamous Dreyfus case. In both cases, public opinions were more in favor of underdogs who did not have much political power to pursue their cases.

Details

Country:

France Morocco

Language:

French Arabic

Release Date:

22 June 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

Omar - Ein Justizskandal

Filming Locations:

Mougins, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,439,826

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tessalit Productions, Mars Films, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1