Editor’s Note
This gripping crime drama expands from a single murder into a complex political thriller, exposing the dark underbelly of the diamond trade. Tune in for a multi-layered investigation.
A young man is shot while jogging in broad daylight on an open street. This cold-blooded murder in the port of Antwerp marks the beginning of a criminal case for the TV investigators, which increasingly expands into a political thriller about the diamond trade. The exciting, multi-layered film “Blutspur Antwerpen” (Blood Trail Antwerp) airs today, Saturday, March 22, at 8:15 PM on Das Erste and is already available in the ARD media library.
German-French actress Marie-Lou Sellem, as Commissioner Louma Shapiro, together with her colleague Miguel Francisco as Commissioner Pierre Didier, takes on the investigation into this mysterious crime, which is set to lead all the way to the International Court of Justice in Brussels. The murder of Congolese model Jean-Baptiste Kalemba (played by Pahuni Kongolo Kakesse) puts the police on the trail of corrupt and brutal diamond smugglers.
Louma Shapiro and Pierre Didier quickly realize that the attack may not have been intended for Jean-Baptiste, but rather for his half-sister Kisha (Karmela Shako). The investigators try to find the woman. She had arrived in Belgium from the Congo just days earlier – in her home country, she is on the government’s terror list. What did she know about diamond dealings?
Actress Karmela Shako, who plays Kisha, says about her role in an ARD interview:
She adds that what the character experiences reflects what activists in the Congo experience daily.
Screenwriters Daniel Schwarz and Thomas Schwebel and director Anna-Katharina Maier tackle a sensitive topic and set it in the pulsating metropolis of Antwerp. Maier says it’s about more than just hunting a perpetrator.
The writers say they want to show this world of diamond trading and diamond cutting in Antwerp.
