The directing duo of Adil El Arbi and Billal Fallah recently directed Bad Boys For Life, which grossed $426.5M worldwide in 2020. Now they are back and at Cannes with their new film Rebel, which is a departure from the blockbuster content they usually delve into. Starring Aboubakr Bensaihi, Tara Abboud, and Lubna Azabal, and written by El Arbi and Fallah, along with Jan Van Dyck and Kevin Meul, Rebel is about what the directors experienced growing up in Belgium.
The film follows Kamal, who resolves to change his life for the better when he leaves Belgium to help war victims in Syria. But, having arrived, he is forced to join the militia and is left stranded in Raqqa. Back home, his younger brother Nassim quickly becomes easy prey for radical recruiters who promise to reunite him with his brother. Their mother, Leila, fights to protect the only thing she has left: her youngest son.
Rebel is produced by Caviar, in co-production with Beluga Tree, Calach Films and Le Collectif 64, and in association with Los Morros and The Imaginatium Films. Executive Producers are Robin Kerremans, Michael Sagol, El Arbi, Fallah and it is produced by Bert Hamelinck and Dimitri Verbeeck. Worldwide sales for the title are being handled by Wild Bunch International with CAA Media Finance handling U.S. sales.
The directors and the cast came into the Deadline studio to discuss why the Cannes Film Festival was the right place to premiere their film and why they needed to tell this story.
To watch the full interview, click the video above.