“The Goldman Trial”, a mythical affair seen by Cédric Kahn

The affair kept the France of the 1970s militant in suspense. Pierre Goldman, far-left activist and half-brother of Jean-Jacques Goldman, was accused in 1969 of a double murder, that of two women in a Parisian pharmacy. His second trial, highly publicized, in 1976, today inspires a film. The defendant, combative, questioned the methods of the police, which he accuses in particular of being racist. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he has to prove his innocence appealed to a tenor of the bar, the lawyer George Kiejman.

A tenor of the bar

The latter attempted a gamble, with a life-size photo aimed at proving that his identification had been botched. The challenge of the film? To show that the talent of a lawyer can totally change a lawsuit. To everyone’s surprise, Pierre Goldman had indeed been acquitted. “He just cast enough doubt for Goldman to be exonerated”, comments Cédric Kahn, the director. The activist was then shot dead in the middle of the street, at the age of 35.