Martin Sochor

From the mean streets of the Belleville district of Paris to the dazzling limelight of New York's most famous concert halls, Edith Piaf's life was a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love. Raised in her grandmother's brothel, Piaf was discovered in 1935 by nightclub owner Louis Leplee, who persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness. Piaf became one of France's immortal icons, her voice one of the indelible signatures of the 20th century.

93, rue Lauriston, in the 16th arrondissement de Paris, is an address of bleak memory. It was indeed the headquarter of the French Gestapo, which was active between 1941 and 1944 and was headed by Henri Lafont and Pierre Loutrel, two wanted criminals. On the day of 1940 he was demobilized, little did well-meaning Léon Jabinet know that he would be associated with such disreputable characters. And yet, some time later, Odile Panzer, the Jewish girl he has been hiding at his parents'place, is arrested by the Gestapo. On this occasion Léon is offered a deal for her release: collaborating with the Carlingue (another name for the French auxiliaries of the Nazi police) and Odile will be free. Or else... What should he do?

A notorious French ex-felon becomes an informant and infiltrates a Mexican drug cartel.