The Outreau affair is the subject of an exceptional docu-fiction co-produced by RTL TVI. The first 2 episodes are broadcast tonight at 7:50 p.m. (available immediately on RTL Play). 4 episodes in all to tell the story of the judicial fiasco of Outreau, this case of pedophilia during which innocent people had been wrongly accused. The series was filmed in Belgium in Vilvoorde with Belgian actors for the most part.
RTL TVI is offering its new co-production this Tuesday evening, the event docu-fiction series l’Affaire d’Outreau. About 20 years after the events, six protagonists agree to tell their story once again through an unprecedented staging.
“The Outreau Affair had a strong impact in Belgium, since Georges Huercano followed the case through several documentaries which may have changed the course of the investigation. The story of the biggest legal fiasco told not only with all the witnesses but a fictionalized part that allows us to live the scenes of life and the interrogations in an unprecedented way. An innovative staging that definitely convinced us to be a co-producer with the Belgian production company Tarantula. An impressive filming device made in Belgium“, says Eusebio Larrea, Head of Entertainment & CoProduction at RTL Belgium.
A docu-fiction mini-series, written and directed by Agnès Pizzini and Olivier Ayache-Vidal: 4 episodes of 52 minutes to discover from January 10 on RTL TVI, and in stride on RTL PLAY.
“On February 8, 2006, like many French people, I was in front of my TV set to attend the hearing of Judge Burgaud. This little investigating judge who was held responsible for the judicial fiasco in Outreau”explains Agnès Pizzini. “I wondered: how a judge could be responsible, on his own, for such a debacle, which led so many innocent people, for so long, to prison; and mobilized for nearly 5 years of procedure so many police officers, magistrates, journalists?”.
4 years and 2 trials
On December 1, 2005, the Paris Court of Appeal acquitted the last defendants in the Outreau case: it took 4 years of proceedings and 2 trials to reach this conclusion. A total of 12 children are recognized as victims of sexual assault, 4 people found guilty and 13 people cleared after 3 years in prison.
This 4-episode series looks back on this incredible legal fiasco which led to the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry in January 2006 and continues to haunt our collective memory.
Innovatively combining a huge 1000 m2 studio, reconstructions of the interrogations and testimonies of the main protagonists, it shows, hears and understands how Judge Burgaud’s judicial investigation created a crazy mechanism that nothing and no one knew or been able to arrest and who crushed the lives of child victims like innocent defendants.
Thierry Dausque, Daniel Legrand, Alain Marecaux, Dominique Wiel, 4 of the cleared defendants, Jonathan Delay, one of the 12 recognized child victims, and François-Xavier Marecaux, bring us back to life, with the actors who play their role at the time , the nightmare they lived through because they had not been able to find in the judicial and police institution, but also in the media, the listening necessary for their words to be truly heard.
It is an RTL TVI & Tarantula, France Télévisions & Point du Jour co-production.