Maldoror

Zmagovalec občinstva Jadranske mreže festivalov na Liffu 2025
Belgium, France, 2024, 155'
Directed by: Fabrice du Welz

Cankarjev dom Cinema Maldoror

Screenplay: Fabrice du Welz, Domenico La Porta
Cinematography : Manu Dacosse
Editing : Nico Leunen
Cast: Anthony Bajon (Paul Chartier), Alba Gaïa Bellugi (Jeanne »Gina« Ferrara), Alexis Manenti (Luis Catano), Sergi López (Marcel Dedieu), Laurent Lucas (Charles Hinkel), David Murgia (Didier Renard), Béatrice Dalle (Rita), Lubna Azabal (Mme Santos), Jackie Berroyer (Jack Dolman), Mélanie Doutey (Juge Remacle), Félix Maritaud (Roberto Santos)

Producers: Jean-Yves Roubin, Cassandre Warnauts, Manuel Chiche, Violaine Barbaroux
Production: Frakas Productions
E office@frakas.be
& The Jokers

Format: DCP, colour
Running time: 155'
Festivals, awards (selection):
Venice 2024, Sitges 2024, Lisbon 2024

World sales: WTF Films
E sales@wtfilms.fr

Du Welz’s latest work is a police film, a naturalistic fresco that takes us to the heart of the Sicilian community in Charleroi in the middle of the 1990s, largely inspired by the case of the paedophile serial killer Marc Dutroux.

Paul Chartier is an impulsive young police recruit with a troubled past – his father was a convict and his mother a prostitute. But he buried those memories long ago. Now he navigates deftly between his professional ambitions and the extended Sicilian family he is preparing to marry into. When two girls go missing, the idealistic Paul is assigned to “Maldoror”. This secret unit has been set up to monitor a dangerous sex offender. When the operation fails, fed up with the limits of the legal system and increasingly obsessed with the case which he is sure is a part of something much larger, Chartier embarks on a solitary hunt to bring down the culprits.

My intention is to explore the nature of evil and the quest for justice through realistic and evocative fiction. I wanted to probe the darkest aspects of the human soul and offer a profound reflection on powerlessness in the face of institutional dysfunction. Through the character of Paul Chartier, I wanted to approach resilience, obsession, blindness and the will to change things against all odds. For me, Maldoror is a turning point, designed to shed light on a societal trauma and offer a fresh perspective on our ability to confront evil.
Fabrice du Welz

Fabrice du WelzBorn in 1972 in Belgium. Du Welz studied at the Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Liège and at INSAS, a film school in Brussels. In the 1990s he directed many Super 8 films and wrote humorous sequences for Canal +. He rose to prominence already with his 1999 short, A Wonderful Love. His feature debut, The Ordeal, screened at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Filmography (selection)
2004 Calvaire (The Ordeal)
2008 Vinyan
2014 Alléluia (Alleluia)
2016 Message from the King
2019 Adoration
2024 La Passion selon Béatrice (The Passion According to Béatrice)
2024 Maldoror

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