L’assassinat d'Ilan Halimi

"In France, there will be a 'before' and an 'after' Ilan Halimi," declared former Chief Rabbi Joseph Sitruk.

Ilan Halimi had dinner at his mother's place, as he did every Friday evening. Then he went to a meeting and, from there, headed to the suburbs.

Upon arriving at his destination, Ilan is hauled out of his car by four thugs who beat him mercilessly, knock him unconscious, and throw him into the trunk of a car.

After being held captive and tortured for 24 days, Ilan was found on the morning of February 12, 2006, dying near a railway track. He died in the ambulance taking him to the hospital. He was 24 years old.

Before becoming a matter of state, the kidnapping of Ilan Halimi was first and foremost a police drama that played out almost entirely within the walls of 36, Quai des Orfèvres. It was a story of twists, suspense, and occasional missteps, yet one driven throughout by the tenacious—almost superhuman—determination of "France's best cops" (the Criminal Brigade) to rescue the young man from his captors at any cost. They failed—a bitter, devastating failure that continues to haunt the lives of those detectives to this day.

A Ben Izaak documentary in collaboration with Alexandre Levy

In association with France Télévisions (France 3)

Director : Ben Izaak

DOP : Jeremy Sahel

Length : 75 min

Sound engineer : Jean-Paul Guirado