Belgian film producer Bert Hamelinck has revealed on national TV that his crew was told they had to pay protection money to local thugs in order not to be harassed.
The incidents happened during the 2022 shooting of the movie Rebel, about radicalised youths fighting in Syria, directed by Belgian A-list directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who also directed the two latest instalments of the Bad Boys franchise starring Will Smith and Martin Laurence.
Rebel went on to win several national and international awards.
On January 9, Hamelinck claimed on the late-night talk show De Afspraak that the intimidation began early, with local youths using firebombs and Molotov cocktails to send a clear message.
“We were given a choice: Pay or stop filming,” he said. Instead, he said, they opted for a third option — tripling security costs and hiring additional guards.
The incidents happened the moment they started filming, he said, with youths approaching their trucks and materials weilding firebombs.
Filming took almost three weeks at the former Citroën building in Brussels and in Dansaertstraat and Anderlecht, among other locations.
Thanks to the extra security, no incidents occurred during the filming, Hamelinck said, although the situation remained “tense” throughout the entire production period.
“You often saw young men loitering around the set who were clearly unhappy with our presence,” he added.
Hamelinck said he did not file an official complaint, thus leaving no administrative record of the extortion attempts.
The Brussels-West police zone told Brussels newspaper Bruzz that they were unaware of the incidents or any related intervention.
Hamelinck added that in cities such as Paris on London, the police had separate units specialising in securing major film productions, but added that Brussels lacked such facilities.
According to him, the production company did not press charges in order to keep a low profile in the neighbourhood.
“After the incident, we received a lot of support from the older generation of residents, who mediated on our behalf and called for calm.
“We also worked with many actors who are well-acquainted with the neighbourhood.
“Of course, it was a sensitive topic: Making a film about radicalised youth is perhaps not something they [the local thugs] would welcome.
“In the end, we decided that the more we stayed under the radar, the safer it would be for us,” Hamelinck added.
On De Afspraak, the producer, invited to discuss the devastating fires in Los Angeles that are impacting Hollywood, weighed in on another topic covered during the episode: Crime and lawlessness in the European capital.
On New Years Eve, there were serious riots in Brussels, with local youths attacking the police, ambulances, firemen and public property.
A handful of people are being prosecuted following those incidents.
Hamelinck contrasted that with law enforcemnt in Los Angeles, where he said he had been robbed one time. The police found the culprit within four days and arrested him and he was sentenced, he said.
Hamelinck added that he was then repeatedly asked by the US police if he wanted to claim for damages over the incident.
Serious unrest erupted over the New Year festivities in parts of Belgium, with migrant youngsters being blamed for outbreaks of rioting, arson, and attacks on security forces. https://t.co/Ub0l5jJ42F
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 2, 2025
