Filmmakers Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys For Life) have been set to direct Rebel, a coming-of-age story about a family torn apart over a little boy’s future.
Wild Bunch International is handling international sales and will introduce the project to buyers at the virtual Cannes market. CAA Media Finance will represent the film’s North American rights
Driven by song, rap and dance, the film will stars Amir El Arbi, in his feature film debut, Aboubakr Bensaihi (Black), and Lubna Azabal (Mary Magdalene)
The film will follow a 13-year-old Moroccan boy from Molenbeek who is searching for his identity after the death of his father. His mother Leila anxiously tries to keep him away from his older local gangster brother, Karim.
The filmmaking duo have also made movies Black and Gangsta (for which they are currently developing the sequel) and have directed episodes of FX series Snowfall. about the crack epidemic, and their first short film BROEDERS.
“Rebel is a true passion project,” said the duo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jan Van Dyck and Kevin Meul. “It is deeply personal for us to be able to tell this story about our generation, and those look for identity. We’ve assembled a powerful creative team and are excited to finally bring it to the big screen.”
The film is being produced by Caviar (Sound Of Metal) in co-production with Beluga Tree (Frankie), Calach Films and Le Collectif 64. Bert Hamelinck and Dimitri Verbeeck are producing. Diana Elbaum from Beluga Tree, Jesus Gonzalez from Calach Films, and Marc Dujardin from Le Collectif 64 are co-producing; Robin Kerremans, Clarissa Vermaak, and Sacha Ben Harroche are executive producing.
Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), VRT, Kinepolis Film Distribution, Telenet, Screen Flanders, Caviar Film Financing and Creative Europe Media are providing financing.
Choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Anna Karenina), Director of Photography Robrecht Heyvaert (Bad Boys For Life), and composer Hannes De Maeyer (Black) are also set to join the production.
The filmmakers are represented by CAA, Management 360, and Karl Austen.