For six years, Joost Vandebrug follows the street kid Nicu who lives in tunnels under the streets of Bucharest. The film came out in 2018 and won over a dozen international awards, received 5 stars in The Guardian, and was screened in over 50 film festivals around the world.
Stream the film HERE
WINNER OF 11 INTERNATIONAL AWARDS (2018-2019)
PRESENTED BY:
Grain Media. Revolver Amsterdam.
Producer Andrea Cornwell. Joachim von Trommel.
Executive Producers Orlando Von Einsiedel. Raymond van der Kaaij. Noomi Rapace.
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Grain Media Ltd
andrea@grainmedia.co.uk
BRUCE LEE AND THE OUTLAW – DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
In 2011, at the North train station in Bucharest I met a young boy huffing from his bag of drugs. His name was Costel, & he just turned 14. I tried to have a small conversation with him and asked to take his picture. The next day I went to the same spot to find Costel again, this time so I could give him back that picture I had shot of him. For almost a week I repeated this sequence of taking a photo and giving it back, when Costel asked me to see where he lived.
This was my introduction to the tunnels under the streets of Bucharest. And with no common language, photography became my way to communicate.
Over the coming weeks and months, I was introduced to other boys just like Costel: Nicu, Safta, Liviu and Stefan who I later named ‘the Lost Boys’. But before I was able to safely browse the tunnels, or even be allowed, I had to meet the Boss of Bosses, the uncrowned King of the Tunnels; Bruce Lee.
"I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine." – Bruce Lee
I didn’t quite understand this Bruce Lee character (likewise, I’m sure) but I respected him, and it was clear that the people in the tunnels relied on him. The children, but also many of the adults called him ‘dad’. One thing was sure, he wasn’t the tyrant that you might expect from the boss of the underworld.
I later discovered that Bruce Lee was part of the first generation of children to make the underground their home. Right after the fall of communism when the children could finally escape the Dickensian style orphanages/jails. The kids had scattered only to meet later in Bucharest's underground that provided at least some warm shelter and an opportunity to earn money. But with theft, drugs and prostitution; this new world was not any kinder than the institutions in which these kids had been raised.
I have been documenting the world of Bruce Lee and the boys for 6 years, since early 2011. Over the years they have told me their powerful and difficult stories and I have seen the coming of age of a generation set against a backdrop of strong friendships, orphanages, drug addiction, harsh winters, and boiling summers.
When I first met Nicu (the film’s main protagonist) as a child, I could not have imagined that he would develop into the 18 year old poetic voice of the film that he is today. I documented Nicu, their 'leader' Bruce Lee, and his close knit group of friends on small cameras which allowed me to get very close into their lives. Working in stark contrast with the sensational local and international TV reporters that were catching onto their story in later years.
The film is a raw and honest portrait of the lives of this community. The final film is largely actuality- based, using footage captured mainly on small DSLR cameras.
STYLE
BRUCE LEE & THE OUTLAW is a startling look at a community of kids as they come of age while facing extraordinary challenges. Yet it is the remarkable interest shown in their leader ‘Bruce Lee’ by international news crews that gives an almost fairytale quality to their story – a parallel world literally under the feet of a modern European city. This is a world that is complex and where fun, humour and love has as much place as hardship. The film includes clips from news show archives to highlight the ‘celebrity’ cult around Bruce Lee, so part of Nicu’s story is undoubtedly about a boy who believes he has a ‘superhero’ as a father.
But this is no fairytale, and this group face many real hurdles. We want to present them to our audience in a portrait that is as honest as possible without flinching from the toughest aspects of their lives.
Inspired by films such as the Oscar-nominated STREETWISE (about the street kids of Seattle) we want to invite the audience to identify with the group, but in a film that is rigorously constructed from actuality, archive and Nicu’s own voiceover.
The film is laid out in linear form, but bookended by Nicu’s 18th birthday party as he comes of age. Throughout the film, Nicu's voiceover also allows reflection and insight.
The film has a clear central arc from the lead character of Nicu and the filmmaking is as influenced as much from fiction as documentary. From the outset, there is an eerie fascination in seeing how much Nicu’s story mirrors Oliver in Oliver Twist: a young boy made homeless who is adopted by the charismatic leader of a gang of street children. Even the character Nancy is echoed by Nicu’s real life saviour, Raluca, who tries to give him the chance to live above ground, and knows that the fun and freedoms of tunnel-life come at a very heavy price.
Much like Linklater’s BOYHOOD there is the fascination of watching someone change from child to young adult over the course of the story. But while Bruce Lee is a flamboyant central character, it is Nicu who drives the story – a person who is changed by falling into the orbit of the King of the Tunnels, but emerges his own person by the end.
BRUCE LEE & THE OUTLAW aims to challenge viewers to imagine what it would be like if stories like Oliver Twist, or Peter Pan & the Lost Boys were real. As he grows up, Nicu does come to realize that his father isn’t in fact a superhero, but a real man with his own flaws and problems, and so at its heart, this film contains a very universal coming of age story.