24 DAYS

Dir. Alexandre Arcady (108min, France, 2014)
French with English Subtitles
Narrative
Mid-Atlantic Premiere

In 2006, Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old Parisian Jew of Moroccan descent, gave his phone number to a pretty young woman. Later, when his kidnappers demanded ransom from his family, it became clear that she actually lured Ilan to his capture — he was literally flirting with death.

Based on a book co-written by the victim’s mother, Arcady’s cinematic adaption offers a vicious cycle of dangerously real events including the kidnapping and torture of Ilan, the 700 phone calls, insults, and threats received by the family, and the Parisian police’s incompetence in dealing with an anti-Semitic crime.

Co-presented by Alliance Française de Washington DC.

Born in French Algeria, Alexandre Arcady (née Arcady Egry) is a French film director, writer and producer. He is the 2014 recipient of the Jerusalem Film Festival’s Jewish Experience Lia Award for 24 Days. He was also nominated in 1987 for Best Film at Mystfest for Dernier Été À Tanger.

“Despite the many complicated facets of Halimi’s ordeal, Arcady still manages to deliver a slick and streamlined film that remains engrossing until the end” -The Hollywood Reporter