Black

Two gangs share the poor districts of Brussels: one of Moroccan youths, one of young Africans. Mavela and Marwan are on opposite sides and love each other. Nobody permits it. The film is not interested in forbidden love. It is interested in ownership by the group: the girl's body is property to the gang, and the film does not shy from showing it. The rape scenes at its centre contain nothing to comfort an audience, and they are the film's most disputed aspect. The form is built on the street: handheld camera, real neighbourhoods, mostly inexperienced actors and fast cutting. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah directed, from Dirk Bracke's novels Black and Back. The structure comes openly from Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, relocated to Brussels. The film screened in the Discovery section at the 2015 Toronto festival and carried the pair to Hollywood; they went on to direct Bad Boys for Life. Martha Canga Antonio and Aboubakr Bensaïhi lead. Who it is for: viewers who like hard street drama and films looking at Belgium's immigrant districts. Who it is not for: anyone who cannot sit through sexual violence. The film holds those scenes long and makes no attempt to protect the viewer.