Flemish director Stijn Coninx (Marina, Sister Smile) turns to darker subject matter with Don't Shoot. This riveting film noir is based on a notorious crime spree that traumatized Belgian society from 1982 – 1985, when the so-called Brabant Killers topped the country’s most wanted list. It focuses on the victims of the gang’s bloody raid on the Delhaize supermarket in Aalst on November 9, 1985. Among them is nine-year-old David Van de Steen, who survived the shooting and caught a glimpse of one of the killers without his mask. The resilient David is being raised by his grandparents, Albert and Metje (the great Flemish actors Jan Decleir and Viviane de Muynck). Albert subsequently fights for over 25 years to bring the killers to justice, helping investigators to uncover disturbing links between the police, the gendarmerie, politicians, and organized crime.
Director Biography
Stijn Coninx was born in 1957 in Belgium. His film Daens (92), earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
Press
"The film takes the time to illustrate – via a classic format – the disappointments encountered by the two investigators in spite of themselves in order to reveal the close and disturbing links between the police, the gendarmerie, politics and organised crime. We cling to Albert’s shoulders, shot after shot, sagging a little as they carry the weight of not being able to keep the promise he once made to his grandson lying in his hospital bed: to track down the people responsible." - Cineuropa
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