On February 6th, 1995, at 8 pm, a radio address was delivered by the Abidjan's Police headquarters, reporting 2 carjackings followed by a homicide. The victim was a police officer in plain clothes. The investigation was led by superintendant Kouassi, graduated in Law. This is the cronicle of his 4 months inquiry in a society where the Police is, by lack of means, above the Law. A daily hell trip.

"If hitting them gets you nowhere, then start starving them. You have to build up the level of violence." - Superintendent Kouassi

1995. On the outskirts of Abidjan, the largest city in Ivory Coast, a policeman is murdered. Shot outside his vehicle, while his fiancée sits in the car, terrified.
Superintendent Kouassi is the detective in charge of the investigation. Tall and lanky, he moves with the tired energy of a man who has seen it all. Drawing on a network of underworld characters with dubious information, Kouassi's team begins bringing in potential suspects and subjecting them to horrific brutality: beating them with sticks, hanging them upside-down, threatening their lives. Some of the men are left so broken they have to literally drag themselves into Kouassi's office later, to be interrogated while lying on the floor, their bodies a mess of bruises, broken bones, and lacerations.
Part of director Mosco Boucault's "Police Investigations" series, A MURDER IN ABIDJAN powerfully captures the banality of police violence. And it raises the question: Why use such horrific tactics when they are ultimately pointless?

WARNING | ATTENTION :
This film contains graphic sequences of police violence, brutality, and torture.
Ce film comporte des scènes de violence policière, brutalité et torture.

ein film von | um filme de | a film by | un film de
Mosco BOUCAULT (Mosco Levi Boucault)

France, Ivory Coast | 1994 | Feature Documentary | 1h29 | Beware (Police violence, torture, brutality)

Titles | Titres :
- UN CRIME À ABIDJAN
- A MURDER IN ABIDJAN
- CRIME À ABIDJAN
- MURDER IN ABIDJAN
- Enquêtes de police - Un crime à Abidjan
- Police Investigations - A Murder in Abidjan

"Ce film a inspiré le long métrage fiction "Les Indomptables" -Michel Amarger, Africiné Magazine (Dakar)

"Professors in cinéma vérité courses will find Boucault's unobtrusive observational technique to be an excellent case study in documentary ethics and expository style." -Kathy Fennessy, Video Librarian

Type : Feature Documentary | Long métrage Documentaire
Year of production | Année de production : 1995
Country of production | Pays de production : France
Country of Filming | Pays de tournage : Ivory Coast | Côte d'Ivoire
Runtime | Durée : 1h26
Genre | Genre : Society | Société
Languages | Langues audio : French audio with English subtitles | Français (Version originale), sous-titres anglais disponibles, VF, VO
Film Color | Couleurs : Color | Couleur
First-time Filmmaker |1er Film : No | Non


REGISSEUR / REGIA / REALIZADOR / DIRECTOR / RÉALISATEUR :
Mosco BOUCAULT (Mosco Levi Boucault)


PRODUKTION / PRODUÇÃO / PRODUCTION / PRODUCTION :
- Elma Productions (France)
- ARTE France (France)

KOPRODUKTION / COPRODUÇÃO / COPRODUCTION / CO-PRODUCTION :
- Tal Productions (France)

CONTACT (Print Copy / Diffusion du film, Festivals) :
ARTE France
8, rue Marceau 92785 Issy-les Moulineaux cedex 9 - France
📞 +33 1 55 00 77 77


WATCH THE FILM (Rental, Buy, Purchase DVD, Gift) | REGARDER CE FILM (Location, Achat, cadeau) :
► https://boutique.arte.tv/detail/crime-a-abidjan

WATCH THE FILM (Purchase DVD) | REGARDER CE FILM (Achat DVD) :
► https://icarusfilms.com/if-crime

Educational streaming & Home streaming platform | Accès en ligne (Enseignement ou individus) :
- Available for educational streaming from DOCUSEEK
If you are not affiliated with a college or university, and are interested in watching this film, please register as an individual and login to rent this film. Already registered? Login to rent this film. This film is also available on the home streaming platform, OVID.tv.
► https://docuseek2.com/if-crime
► www.ovid.tv/



Fuente / Fontes / Our Source / Quelle / Nos Sources (MAIS INFORMAÇÕES / READ MORE / PLUS D'INFOS) :
► Africiné Magazine (Dakar)
► https://boutique.arte.tv/detail/crime-a-abidjan
► https://boutique.arte.tv/search?genericsSlugs=mosco-levi-boucault
► https://icarusfilms.com/if-crime
► https://docuseek2.com/if-crime
► https://icarusfilms.com/filmmakers?id=58
Updated by Thierno DIA, 22 June 2025