Reservoir Docs Takes World Rights to Hot Docs Premiere ‘The End of Innocence’ (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias Reservoir Docs has acquired world rights to “The End of Innocence,” director Pauline Beugnies’ documentary about a string of shocking crimes that rattled Belgium in the 1990s, ahead of its world premiere in the International Spectrum competition section at Hot Docs.“The End of Innocence” recounts an infamous series of child abductions, rapes and murders by the serial predator Marc Dutroux and his accomplices – a tragedy compounded by the egregious judicial errors that hampered the investigation.The “Dutroux Affair,” as it came to be known, shocked the nation, culminating in the “White March” of 1996, where more than 350,000 demonstrators marched in silent protest through the streets of Brussels after Dutroux’s arrest.

The story is told through the testimonies of the survivors, now fully grown, shedding light on how their memories are altered by time, distorted by media coverage and limited by their youth and inexperience.

Together, they tell an intimate version of their story in what becomes a piece of collective memory.Beugnies, who was just 13 years old when the tragic events unfolded, said that the Dutroux affair left an indelible mark on her family. “Our life changed radically at that time.

It is one of the stories that built the person I am today,” she said in a statement. “It’s very hard to tackle the Dutroux case.