La Promesse

A street kid, raised by a father who imports and exploits illegal aliens, runs into family problems when he befriends one of them. Jeremie Renier, Olivier Gourmet, Assita Ouedraogo, Rasmane Ouedraogo., A 15-year-old Belgian boy must choose between loyalty to his father or telling the truth in this thoughtful drama. The tale is set in Liege, Belgium. Young Igor has two jobs. He works at a small garage, swiping everything he can get away with, and helps his father Roger smuggle in and house illegal immigrants. Among the illegals is Assita from Burkina Fasso. She and her baby have come to be with her husband Amidou. Unfortunately, he is killed when the authorities raid the broken down tenement the immigrants have been hiding. Later, Roger forces Igor to help him secretly bury Amidou. Roger then lies to Assita, telling her that Amidou has gone out of town for awhile. He then launches a personal campaign to convince Assita to return home. As that struggle continues, Igor finds his gnawing conscience increasingly difficult to ignore. Finally rebelling against his silver-tongued father, Igor decides to help Assita himself, realizing all the while, that eventually he must tell her the painful truth., Igor (Jeremie Renier) is a Belgian teenager, first seen promising a dying illegal immigrant that he will look after his wife and son. What only becomes apparent later is that Igor’s father Roger (Olivier Gourmet) is a trafficker in, and exploiter of, immigrants in Liege. Igor must keep his promise secret, a difficult task both physically and emotionally and one which eventually leads to divided loyalties. Dirs: Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. In French with subtitles., Igor (Jérémie Rénier) is a Belgian teenager, first seen promising a dying illegal immigrant that he will look after his wife and son. What only becomes apparent later is that Igor’s father Roger (Olivier Gourmet) is a trafficker in and exploiter of immigrants in Liège and Igor must keep his promise secret, a difficult task both physically and emotionally which eventually leads to a divide of his loyalties.