Is Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime based on a true story?

The miniseries comes from filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, who will be best known to most viewers for directing The Staircase documentary series, which chronicled the trial of Michael Peterson and was adapted into an HBO drama.

His latest work aims to turn a mirror on French authorities and society at large, after Dino Scala raped, sexually assaulted or attempted to rape and assault more than 50 women and girls over a period of three decades.

Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime drew huge viewership in France, bringing attention to a shocking saga that had been largely overlooked by the press and general public prior to its premiere.

The series stars Alix Poisson, Jonathan Turnbull, Julien Frison, Pauline Parigot, Noémie Lvovsky and Clémence Poésy, and comes to BBC iPlayer this Saturday, 31st August.

Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime true story explained

Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime is inspired by real events, although the series features elements of artistic licence, as is common with most true crime dramas.

In an interview with Variety, director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade explained that he had chosen the format of drama over documentary so that he could include commentary on French society, rather than just present the cold facts of the case.

This particular case has been the subject of criticism as it was perceived not to have been taken seriously by authorities, which is one explanation as to why Scala was able to commit his crimes over such a long period (from 1988 to 2018).

Adding to the sense that he should have been caught earlier, all of his attacks were concentrated to a similar area, that being towns and villages along the river Sambre, where the television drama derives its name.

As he went to trial, one of the survivors of Scala's crimes told press that she had given police a detailed description of the culprit back in 1997, which had resulted in a highly accurate sketch being drawn (via BBC News).

However, French authorities failed to circulate the likeness, which some – including De Lestrade – have interpreted as evidence of their general lack of interest in the case at the time.

Scala was eventually arrested in 2018 after attacking a 17-year-old girl, who was able to break free and report the incident, resulting in the criminal's vehicle being traced via footage from a newly installed CCTV camera.

One might expect the case to provoke mass outrage from the public, but actually, it went largely under-reported until de Lestrade's drama series, which the director argues "highlights the flaws" of French society and institutions.

"It’s very revealing that people cared so little," he told Variety. "He remains France’s biggest sexual predator and he was arrested. A trial unfolded four years later. And yet, the French didn’t get passionate about it, it didn’t get wall-to-wall coverage.

"Why did it take 30 years to catch him? Because rape was never considered a very serious crime. Secondly, people assume wrongly that a rapist had to be a marginal, a total loner, jobless and without any social ties."

De Lestrade continued: "In fact, in 80 per cent of cases, sexual violence comes from people who are perfectly integrated in society, like Dino Scala. A rapist could be an educator, a music teacher, a doctor, etc."

Indeed, Scala was a generally well-liked caretaker and football coach with no prior convictions at the time of his arrest, leaving members of his community shocked that he could be capable of such atrocities.

In 2022, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for 17 rapes, 12 attempted rapes and 27 sexual assaults or attempts.

Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime is available to stream on BBC iPlayer from Saturday 31st August 2024.

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