La Promesse

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.