Directed by Joost Vandebrug
Feature Documentary
Currently available on MUBI
https://mubi.com/films/bruce-lee-and-the-outlaw
Nicu, a young homeless boy, is adopted by ‘Bruce Lee’, the notorious King of the Underworld and goes to live with him in the tunnels under Bucharest. As Nicu grows up, he starts to realise that perhaps the King of the Underworld is not the perfect father,and has to make a choice between staying in Bruce's gang, or living a 'normal' life above ground.
Filmed over six years, BRUCE LEE & THE OUTLAW is a modern-day Oliver Twist story under the streets of Bucharest.
((WINNER!)) of twelve international awards
Cinephile Award, Busan Intl FF 2018
for Best World Documentary Feature
Best Intl Feature & Audience Award
FICDH Argentina
SOS Kinderdorfer Weltweiter
DocFest Munich
Special Jury Award
TRT Documentary Awards
Best Film & Audience Award
ICEDOCS 2019
Audience Award
Rudnik, IFF (Russia) 2019
Best Debut Film
Dutch Film Festival 2019
Best Documentary
Balinale (Bali) 2019
Jury Award
Docs MX (Mexico) 2019
Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018 (World Premiere)
Busan International Film Festival 2018
Warsaw Film Festival 2018 (In Competition)
Tallinn Black Nights ‘Just Films’ 2018
Antenna Doc. Film Fest 2018 (Australia)
Cent Scot Docu Fest 2018
West Lake IDF 2018 (China)
ZagrebDox 2019 (Intl competition)
Giffoni Film Festival 2019 (Italy)
Movies That Matter 2019 (Competition)
Dok Fest Munich 2019
Buenos Aires FICDH 2019
ICEDOCS, Iceland 2019
Giffoni Film Festival 2019
A Grain Media / Revolver Amsterdam production in association with PINK
Produced by: Andrea Cornwell, Joachim von Trommel
Executive Producers: Orlando Von Einsiedel, Raymond van der Kaaij, Noomi Rapace
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - The Guardian
”Brutal, beautiful portrait of a Romanian street kid…Compassionate but clear-eyed; loving but unsentimental; all the while retaining a slightly hallucinatory quality that evokes the unreality of Nicu’s life.” (Lucy Mangan)
“ an incredibly personal work from a filmmaker that is bound to become hugely influential... it is very exciting to see where he will go from here.” ReelSteel
“ For anybody who’s ever binged on Louis Theroux’s cultish docs or found real-world purpose in Ken Loach’s stories (..), Bruce Lee and the Outlaw promises to deliver an equally powerful emotional punch.” i-D Magazine
“Initially taking an observational perspective that avoids any judgement, the intimate photography captures the lives of these urchins and the cramped conditions in the tunnels. There are hints of Larry Clark in the framing … [and] of the Oscar-nominated, Seattle-set documentary Streetwise (1984), and Mark Smith’s 2000 documentary Dark Days.” - Cineuropa
“… A story filled with tragedy and hope. Vandebrug’s approach to documentary filmmaking empowers his subjects to own their stories and finds beauty and love in the darkest of places…. powerfully executed and visually flawless” - TheDigitalFix (9 out of 10)
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - “Director Joost Vandebrug creates a sense of intimacy and compassion…. a poignant, beautiful snapshot of a young boy’s most important years” - FORGE
“A documentary film that shows that love and beauty can also be found in the darkest places” - DOKFest Jury
