Those times when the Belgian director duo, which almost looks like spiritual twins, joined The world goes on everyone could see it for themselves: Adil El Arbi (33) and Bilall Fallah (36) burst with enthusiasm when it comes to film. This is also the case on this Sunday afternoon when they left Glasgow, where they have been staying since the summer for the shooting of a new episode in the superhero series. batgirltumble over each other via zoom to tell about their series Groundwhich was already shown in Belgium via the Flemish commercial channel Play4 and has recently been available on Netflix.
In Belgium, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah broke through with the crime drama black from 2015, about a gang war between black and Moroccan Belgians in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, which appeared remarkably topical at the time of the premiere, given the riots in the same district. The film was picked up internationally; the American weekly time called the two the ‘Spielbergs of Molenbeek’. They achieved Belgian star status with the action film patser from 2018, an adrenaline explosion of more than two hours, in which they tell the story of four childhood friends who grow up in a deprived neighborhood in Antwerp and fall for the quick money.
El Arbi and Fallah broke through in Hollywood in 2020 with the blockbuster Bad Boys for Life †Bad Boys III), starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. In the film, they show that explosions alone are not enough: think of Smith and Lawrence in a motorcycle with sidecar, engaged in a chase with villain, rocket launcher and helicopter. The duo just finished shooting two episodes ms. marvela new superhero series for Disney+, launching in June.
Of Ground they seem to have returned to their own childhood and background in Belgium. Ground is a smooth, straightforward comedy series that is full of their characteristic visual spectacle delights. The story is about Moroccan Ismael (Yassine Ouaich), whose father earns his money as an undertaker. He repatriates Moroccan dead so that they can be buried in Moroccan soil. Ismael’s mother, who died when he was 12, was also buried in Morocco, against the will of her and her children, because Islam dictates it that way. Ismael distances himself from his family and tries to get rich quickly with inventions like the pizza scissors and the butter stick. When his father hands over the company to Ismael and his sister, Ismael tries to bring Moroccan soil to Belgium, so that Muslim relatives can bury their deceased in Belgium, but still in Moroccan soil – with all the consequences that entails.
You are now in the middle of shooting for the international action movie batgirlwhile we watch your Flemish series on Netflix Ground can see. That’s an interesting mix.
El Arbi: ‘We’ve been on the huge film set that is Glasgow, the whole city is for months goth and dark† Ground is indeed a different story: for the first time not a crime, but a tragi-comedy, in which there is more room for emotions and jokes. And the story is close to us, because we ourselves have a Moroccan background. But also in Ground you will find the A&B style, with action and spectacle.’
Have you experienced yourself that a deceased family member was repatriated to Morocco to be buried there?
Fallah: ‘My grandfather died twenty years ago and was buried in Morocco. Even then I wanted to know how that works, because I live in Belgium and could not visit his grave. Tradition says that any person who dies should be buried in the sacred ground of Morocco.”
Until now, you often wrote the scripts for your Belgian productions yourself. In front of Ground did you work with three screenwriters, who wrote the series? bevergem wrote about the eccentric Freddy de Vledder who lives in the fictitious West Flemish and derailed village of that name. How did you like that?
El Arbi: ‘bevergem was a great success in Belgium, so it was a huge honor to be approached for this new project. The writers, Zouzou Ben Chikha, Wannes Cappelle and Dries Heyneman, pitched a strong and authentic scenario with a story that we would never have come up with ourselves. It matched our background and we thought it was a unique concept. And they thought we would be the best directors for the series.
You also work in directing with another director: Mathieu Mortelmans, also from the series bevergem†
Fallah: ‘Mathieu is fantastic! He can guard the balance between comedy and tragedy like no other.’
El Arbi: ‘We directed two episodes and he directed the other six. That now sounds as if we worked separately from each other, but nothing could be further from the truth: we discussed everything beforehand and we were always together during the editing. As a duo we are used to working together. Because it works: it’s great to collaborative working with cameramen and actors. We want to have the feeling that we are a football team, in which everyone contributes their own talent to reach a higher level together.’
fallah: ‘Team work makes the dream work†
Is that typical of the young generation of filmmakers, that working together, and much more than before with a diverse cast?
Fallah: ‘We think it’s a normal course of action. But maybe the older generation works more old-school, in a different one vibewith one overall boss.’
El Arbi: ‘We feel more comfortable giving freedom to the people we work with, because that frees up more creativity. If we are in doubt about something, we check it together.’
Fallah: ‘That’s how we work as a duo: I’m never alone with a struggle† We can always reflect ideas and we can turn to each other without any doubt.’
El Arbi: ‘Ms. Marvel also has a diverse cast and crew, which is important for this revolution.’
Revolution?
El Arbi: ‘We didn’t have any examples of filmmakers of Moroccan descent whom we could look up to, who we could lean on. We were in a film school with only white artistic people, and then I saw Bilall. We were the only two with different backgrounds, which creates a bond. We found each other in our common Moroccanness. In our families there was no one involved with art and culture. All those things together made it more difficult for us to become directors – you think it’s an unattainable dream, don’t you? But because of our enormous passion for film, we went for it.’
Fallah: ‘In recent years, partly under the influence of Black Lives Matter, the development in diversity has accelerated. We were pioneers in Belgium, and everything is now gaining momentum. That’s wonderful and good, and a little revolution. But: you can’t just be chosen because of your origin, you have to be good.’
Can you explain where your love for cinema comes from?
El Arbi: ‘That love has been there since childhood. As a kid I wanted to be Batman, I played with Batman dolls. That’s what film does to you, it takes you to another world.’
Fallah: ‘That’s why spectacle remains our first love. When you become a teenager, the art house genre will naturally come closer to your own environment later on.’
El Arbi: ‘black and patser were also personal. In every film we look for that personal connection, in a fusion of everything we have seen and experienced. We wouldn’t have had that style without our Moroccan background.’
Speaking of fusion: In patser this style is characterized in neon colours, references to crime films by Martin Scorsese, Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino, fight films with Jean-Claude van Damme and video games. The four childhood friends from Antwerp want a life as they know it from film, TV and computer games.
Meanwhile, Will Smith, who is likely to win an Oscar this year, has become one of your friends.
Fallah: ‘We are completely ourselves with Will.’
El Arbi: ‘But the first time we met him we thought: hey, there you have the Fresh Prince.’
Fallah: ‘Now he is our big brother. And yes, we just text him, congratulate him when he has won another prize.’
El Arbi: ‘Will is a genius.’
Is there a big difference between running a blockbuster like now in Glasgow and making a smaller-scale series like Ground†
El Arbi: ‘For Ground we get more creative freedom, but there’s also less money, so we couldn’t do anything too crazy. And there is more room to experiment. With such an American production you have to constantly take into account major studios and producers, and fight and convince to keep your own vision alive. That’s why it’s important for us to keep a balance between Hollywood films and smaller projects.’
Fallah: ‘But for Flanders, Ground a very big project, we mustn’t forget that.’
El Arbi: ‘In Hollywood we are not in charge and half the time we are in meetings with twenty to sometimes fifty people. That can be exhausting, but we learned a lot from it and also got to know a lot of people. The main lesson we have learned is: choose your battles.’
Fallah: ‘It took a while before we analyzed the system in such a way that we can deal with it and then get the best out of it.’
Adil: ‘It also came in handy here that we are used to working in a team. And it is often good that we are slowed down when we have come up with another grotesque bullshit idea.’
Rebel
At the moment, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Falah are working on the Belgian speefilm Rebel, about 13-year-old Nassim from Molenbeek, who is looking for his identity. His mother Leila jealously tries to keep him away from his older brother Karim, a mobster. At a young age, Nassim must decide what the rest of his life will look like.