This French film, available on Netflix since May 7, rose to first place in the top 10. But did you know that it was inspired by real events?
You’ve probably already watched it. The film North Bac directed by Cedric Jimenez in 2020 is being reborn on the Netflix platform. The latter has just climbed to first position in the top 10! To revive some memories, this feature film features three police officers from the BAC Nord, played by François Civil, Gilles Lellouche and Karim Leklou, which operate in the difficult neighborhoods of Marseille. As they try to maintain order and fight crime, they find themselves involved in corruption and drug trafficking.
If Bac Nord has won the hearts of viewers, many of them are unaware that this film is Inspired by a True Story. The director, Cédric Jimenez, himself grew up in these northern neighborhoods. A few years earlier, in 2012, members of the Marseille anti-crime brigade were accused of drug trafficking and racketeering.
Bac Nord is inspired by real events dating from 2012
“ The media show was such that I felt the need to know what happened. How far could these cops have crossed the yellow line? But for that, you had to have access to the police and to the file. Which was obviously impossible. When we decided to work together, with Hugo Sélignac, my producer, I always had this matter in mind. That’s when he said to me, ‘Wait, I know someone in Marseille who could introduce us to the real cops in the case“, explains the 47-year-old screenwriter to Purebreak.
For his film, Cédric Jimenez had the opportunity to meet the BAC Nord team from that era. “ When the prosecutor dropped the main charges, there was not a word in the media even though their arrest had been in the news for several days. As a result, they were happy to be listened to and to tell how they got there. They did stupid things, that’s indisputable, but the media coverage it got was disproportionate,” he concludes.
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