Bbc buys jean-xavier de lestrade’s ‘samber’ thriller along with other broadcasters & max

The BBC has picked up Jean-Xavier de Lestrade‘s TV thriller _Sambre – Anatomy of a Crime_, which was titled _Samber _in France. A wealth of other broadcasters including Spain’s Movistar and

Portugal’s Nos plus Max for second window in France have also picked up _Samber. _ Starring Alix Poisson (_The returned, Six Women_) and Clémence Poesy (_The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon,

Tenet_), the series is based on true events and follows the extraordinary legal case of a serial rapist who attacked women across three decades in the same location. The France Télévisions 

thriller came fresh off the back of the smash success of French movie _Anatomy of a Fall._ _Sambre _starts in Northern France in the late 1980s, where women are being sexually assaulted

along the same road by the Sambre river, with attacks taking place early mornings and in a similar style. The justice system is overwhelmed by the accumulating cases. It will take 30 years

to catch a man, who never stopped attacking women and is responsible for at least 54 cases of rape or sexual assault, leading to repercussions that were still being felt at the beginning of

the #metoo era. WATCH ON DEADLINE The show also stars Olivier Gourmet (_Oussekine, La Promesse_), Noémie Lvovsky (_Camille Rewinds, Farewell, My Queen_), Jonathan Turnbull (_Soldiers_) and

Pauline Parigot (_Soldiers, HPI_). It is the latest high-profile drama series picked up by the BBC, following the likes of _Suits _and _Colin From Accounts. _ Federation Studios, which

co-produced the series and sells globally, said a UK purchase of a French show is “exceptional given its rarity.” De Lestrade is the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind docuseries_ The Staircase_

 and the drama _Laetitia_. _Sambre_ is written and created by Alice Géraud and Marc Herpoux, and based on the investigation by Alice Géraud. Produced by What’s Up Films and Federation

Studios in coproduction with Versus Production, it was originally commissioned by France Télévisions.