THE STRONGHOLD Directed by Cédric Jimenez INTERNATIONAL MARKETING INTERNATIONAL PUBLICITY Alba OHRESSER Margaux AUDOUIN
[email protected] [email protected] 1 SYNOPSIS Marseille’s north suburbs hold the record of France’s highest crime rate. Greg, Yass and Antoine’s police brigade faces strong pressure from their bosses to improve their arrest and drug seizure stats. In this high-risk environment, where the law of the jungle reigns, it can often be hard to say who’s the hunter and who’s the prey. When assigned a high-profile operation, the team engages in a mission where moral and professional boundaries are pushed to their breaking point. 2 INTERVIEW WITH CEDRIC JIMENEZ What inspired you to make this film? In 2012, the scandal of the BAC [Anti-Crime Brigade] Nord affair broke out all over the press. It was difficult to escape it, especially for me being from Marseille. I Quickly became interested in it, especially since I know the northern neighbourhoods well having grown up there. There was such a media show that I felt the need to know what had happened. How far had these cops taken the law into their own hands? But for that, it was necessary to have access to the police and to the files. That was obviously impossible. When we decided to work together, me and Hugo [Sélignac], my producer, I always had this affair in mind. It was then that he said to me, “Wait, I know someone in Marseille who could introduce us to the real cops involved.” And that’s what happened.