Lucia de B.

Paula van der Oest : 2014
Accused

Nurse Lucia de Berk has been present at one inexplicable death too many, a baby only a few months old. The hospital alerts the police. The young and ambitious public prosecutor Judith Jansen gets the file Lucia de B. on her desk. The investigation into the 'Angel of Death', as the press call Lucia, is heavy. Lucia left no traces and refuses to talk to the detectives, but a blood test connects her and she is eventually sentenced to life imprisonment for four murders and three counts of attempted murder. But something keeps troubling Judith. She discovers inconsistencies in witness statements and even the suppression of lab evidence. There are questions as to the reliability of the test and Judith begins to have doubts. Ignored by her superiors, Judith teams up with Lucia's lawyer, but at every appeal the original guilty verdict is confirmed. Things look bleak until they get the media involved and the biggest miscarriage of justice in Dutch history is finally reversed. Based on a true story, Paula van der Oest's feature was awarded the Gouden Film on behalf of the Nederlands Film Festival and the Nederlands Filmfonds. Her film screened in competition at Bari International Film Festival 2015.