True Crime
A French serial killer
In the Alps, 28 people mysteriously disappeared between 2007 and 2017. A sad unexplained record for the region. This is the story of one of the greatest failures of the French judicial system.
Maëlys, 8, disappears during a wedding. Her remains are found six months later. Nordahl Lelandais, one of the guests at the party, faced with overwhelming evidence, confesses to the crime. From that moment on, the police officers wonder whether the suspect may be involved in other misdeeds in the area. Their intuition will prove correct when they discover that, a few months before Maëlys' disappearance, a young 24-year-old Army corporal also fell prey to this man, without arousing the slightest suspicion.
In France, serial killers are considered a fantasy, a legend straight out of an American movie. This may explain why justice has not sought links between these different cases.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT [3x120’]
Motive belongs to each, justice explains the rest
This series aims to show how and why a particular person was convicted.
It doesn’t seek to claim innocence or guilt, only to retrace the judicial reasoning behind each verdict.
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS [21x52’]
Blood dramas
This series tells French and international crime stories using re-enactments interspersed with testimonials and archive footage.
HISTORY’S GREATEST CRIMES [3x70’]
Meetings with destiny
From poisonings to conspiracies and coups to bloody tragedies, some crimes have disrupted reigns and altered the fate of nations.
This series explores these dramas behind major upheavals.
HIT AND RUN ON THE MOTORWAY: THE STRANGE DEATH OF ANTHONY MURONI [52’]
An unusual obstacle on the road
On March 7, 2020, at around 2.30 am, a motorist raised the alarm: there was an obstacle on the road, and he had been unable to avoid it.
He seemed unaware that he had driven over the body of Anthony Muroni.
INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY [21x90’]
Investigations into crimes which made the news
This collection is about violent criminal cases that have been in the news and focuses on those involved, but still presumed innocent since their trials have not yet taken place.
Our teams investigate the tragic events, trying to understand how the persons implicated found themselves in such tragic situations.
MAFIA AND ITALY, A BLOODY PACT [55’]
Dangerous liaisons
In 1992, the anti-mafia magistrates Falcone and Borsellino were murdered in Palermo, the capital of Sicily. For a long time public opinion believed in a story of revenge; that of Toto Riina who was head of Cosa Nostra, the fearsome Sicilian mafia.
Today, a lawsuit is challenging this hypothesis. Within the Italian state, someone is said to have guided the murders.
With exclusive testimonies from judges, politicians and witnesses under protection, this film reveals several decades of incestuous links between the State and the mafia.
MISSING, THE STORY OF ELOI ROLLAND [6x26’]
The tragic fate of a young expatriate
Eloi Rolland, 18, arrives in New Zealand to learn English and live new experiences away from his parents.
On the evening of March 6, 2020, he leaves his host family, but no one knows where he spent the night. The next day, he is spotted at the Britomart station to catch the train to Swanson. He gets off in New Lynn and heads for the intersection of Scenic Drive and Piha Road, his last known location.
At this point, his phone stops ringing for good.
THE "ACTION DIRECTE" ORGANISATION SECRET HISTORY [52’]
A murderous ideology
In 1979, with the launch of Action Directe, France follows the path of its German and Italian neighbors with the emergence of domestic terrorist violence which culminates with the murders of Army General Audran in 1985 and of the chairman of Renault in 1986.
The following year, the 4 leaders of the movement are arrested and sentenced to life in prison. According to the media, they were targeting the symbols of capitalism but none of the victims had the profile of a free marketeer.
This film sheds a new light on the bloody trajectory of this mysterious organisation.
THE MAZAN TRIAL, WOMEN BETRAYED [52’]
Women of almost ordinary monsters
The town of Mazan was the scene of the most sordid case of violence against a woman, Gisèle Pélicot. She had been drugged without her knowledge by her husband and raped by 51 men over several years. The horror of what happened shook the whole world, as witnessed by the throngs of foreign journalists present at the trial.
For three months, the 51 defendants took the stand week after week in front of their loved ones: mother, sister, wife, daughter...
How did these women feel about their men's indictment? Do they feel betrayed and sullied, or do they intend to forgive? How can they recover from such a nightmare?
XDDL, THE FATHER IS THE KILLER [84’]
A family murdered
In April 2011, in France, the bodies of a woman, her four children, and two dogs were found buried under the terrace of their house. Only the body of the father, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, a.k.a. XDDL, is missing.
Everything points to him being the executioner of the carefully planned and executed murder of his whole family. But how did this apparently harmless conservative catholic come up with this devil enterprise?
Mixing re-enactments and testimonies, this riveting docudrama revives a criminal affair from the standpoint of the presumed murderer. To this day, XDDL’s whereabouts remain unknown, making this case a real mystery.