What happened to Gérald Thomassin, a young French cinema prodigy accused in 2008 of a murder of which he proclaimed himself innocent? Although cleared ten years later, the actor mysteriously disappeared in 2019, perhaps overtaken by his demons: drugs and life on the street. “Sensitive Affairs” retraces its itinerary.
Where has Gérald Thomassin gone, the young prodigy of French cinema accused for more than ten years of the murder of a postal worker? On December 19, 2008, Catherine Burgod, the postal worker from Montréal-la-Cluse, in Ain, was found murdered in her office. The actor Gérald Thomassin then lived just opposite. In this town, his marginal lifestyle quickly makes him the ideal culprit. However, there is no material evidence to call this into question.
For more than ten years, Gérald Thomassin proclaimed his innocence. In 2017, a turning point in the investigation: DNA traces taken in the post office finally speak. They name a new suspect, Mamadou Diallo, who also lived in Montréal-la-Cluse at the time of the murder. This twist should allow Gérald Thomassin to be cleared. But on August 28, 2019, the actor mysteriously disappeared.
A career that changes
“Sensitive Affairs”, presented by Fabrice Drouelle, returns to the chaotic journey of Gérald Thomassin. At 16, he is considered the young prodigy of French cinema. In 1991, he won a César for Most Promising Actor for his first role in a film by Jacques Doillon, The Little Criminal. French cinema is struggling. A promising career that changes when the young actor with a damaged childhood is overtaken by his demons: drugs and life on the street. Until this accusation of murder against Catherine Burgod for which he finally benefited from a dismissal of the case, a year after her disappearance.
In this documentary, the magazine gives a voice to those close to him and reveals previously unpublished personal archives, the only memories of the young actor’s adolescence. Its shadow should hang over the appeal trial of Mamadou Diallo for the murder of the postal worker from Montréal-la-Cluse, a trial which opens on October 12, 2023 at the Lyon Assize Court of Appeal.
A documentary directed by Alexandra Colineau / France TV Presse.
“Sensitive Affairs”, a France Télévisions, France Inter and INA co-production, adapted from a France Inter program, to be seen on France 2 on Sundays at 3:05 p.m.
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