2nd Boulevard du Polar

Spectacular robbery at the BIFFF – deposition by Boulevard du Polar!
Minutes of the trial
Preliminary hearing: South African suspect Deon Meyer (Monday, April 9th)

Deon Meyer is the internationally acclaimed author of seventeen best-sellers and also a director. He will present his latest film and will participate in a master class.

Profile

Boulevard du Polar is an international multimedia festival. Its motive is to pay tribute to a genre that makes people’s hearts race and stirs up their neurons.

One book out of five is a mystery. The genre has continued to grow in popularity and notoriety. The culprits are talented artists; it’s not clear whether they are novelists, filmmakers, screenwriters or illustrators. Literature and cinema revel in these stories rooted in the real world and that hold up an unflattering mirror.

Mysteries (novels, comic books, and films noirs) rely on the careful observation of society and report their findings in a critical and even controversial manner. They delve into our behavior, our instincts, our weaknesses, and our souls. In its slipstream were born modern knights and evil geniuses, like all mortals full of humanity, compassion, and frailty.

The Suspects

The investigators are looking into a French connection. The sponsors’ identity is known. They are the repeat offenders Nadine Monfils and Patrick Raynal. The list of suspected accomplices illustrates the scope of the network, with various profiles: screenwriters, novelists, and cartoonists with ink spots on their hands and film strips in their clutches! They are Belgian and maintain tight relations with their counterparts in mostly France.

The following persons have confessed:

• Ian Manook: author of a Mongolian thriller trilogy, including the award-winning Yeruldelgger
• Serguei Dounovetz: continues the Nestor Burma series and also wrote a novel about a mourning aging rocker behind the wheel of a hearse in infernal Texas
• Stanislas Petrosky: is it any wonder that this former embalmer and fan of Frédéric Dard succeeded in getting Nadine Monfils to write a preface for his humorous and mocking stories?

The underworld’s women (also known as femmes fatales) are inevitably guilty. The conspiracy includes:

• Barbara Abel
• Lijn Alexandre
• Armelle Carbonel
• Sophie Chabanel
• Laurence Fontaine
• Pascale Fonteneau
• Kate Milie
• Elsa Roch

Suspicions also weigh heavily on a probable international network:

• Craig Johnson (USA): will be summoned to shed light on Walt Longmire’s tenth adventure (master class: Saturday, April 14th at 4pm).
• Juan-Carlos Méndez Guédez (Venezuela): the man who considers life to be a lucha libre-style fight will also be brought in.

Autopsy of the festival

Signature sessions in Polar&Co’s bookstore at the festival
Friday and Saturday from 10am to 7pm (free entrance)

Panel discussions and master classes in the BIFFF Village (full program on www.boulevard-du-polar.be)

Screenings in Cine 3:

• Friday, April 13th: Tueurs
• Saturday, April 14th: Une part d’ombre

Visits to unusual places and tastings of “bad taste” beer are also planned.

Event – Friday, April 13th
You can win thirteen autographed novels. If you liked Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water on the silver screen, you’ll just love his novel!

“A captivating work of art… that sheds light on the psychology of the characters, greatly enhances our understanding of their personality and dilemmas, and offers a broader and more engaging storyline.” (Booklist)