‘Bruce Lee & The Outlaw’: A firsthand view of life on the streets of Romania
Globally, about 1.2 billion children live in multidimensional poverty, without access to education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation or water, according to UNICEF. December’s film of the month, Bruce Lee & The Outlaw (2018), highlights this reality in Romania, where street children come together to form a family underground with a man they call their father, known as Bruce Lee. Filmed over six years, the documentary follows young Nicu, a child growing up in extreme poverty, with drugs, and violence, and whose life is at one point saved by the film’s director, Joost Vandebrug.
We had the honor of speaking with Joost about his experience making this impactful documentary.
Q: How did you first become interested in this story?
A: I only became interested after meeting the people. It was not something I researched beforehand. I ran into the story while photographing and filming this group, and it became more interesting as I spent time with them. Initially, I focused on Bruce Lee, the leader, and it was quite late in the process when I focused on Nicu, whose perspective brought incredible depth to the story.
Q: How did you meet them?
A: While working as a commercial photographer, I traveled for inspiration and often photographed homeless people. One day, a boy named Costel invited me to see where he lived, which turned out to be a home in the tunnels. That is where I met Bruce Lee, who asked me to return, so I kept coming back.
Q: Did you face any resistance to filming?
A: Not from Bruce—it was actually his initiative to have me film, because he wanted his story told. But there were many others who didn’t want to be filmed, and I respected that. Some changed their minds later, but most people in the tunnels are not in the film.
Q: Did you ever stay in the tunnels and fully integrate with them?
A: No, Bruce invited me often, but I felt like a tourist there. I had a hotel to stay in, and I did not want to take up space that kids could use to sleep. I've never pretended to be one of them. The only thing I could do is get to know them.
Q: How did you approach filming?
A: I always carried my camera but filmed only about 10% of the time. Most of the time, I was sitting, talking, or waiting for something to happen, like Bruce telling his story or Nicu going somewhere. It was important to spend time with them beyond filming.
Q: How did you manage the ethics of filming in this environment?
A: Ethics are not a checklist; they are complex. Some people criticized me for intervening too much, like taking Nicu to the hospital, while others said I did not intervene enough. I tried to address everything as a human being, not just a filmmaker. But now, looking back and after learning a lot more about film ethics, I would not make this film again, mainly because of all these ethical challenges.
Q: What challenges did you face during the making of the film?
A: I don't even know where to begin, the challenges were endless—technical, financial, and ethical. For example, I lacked early video footage of Nicu because I started with photography. Financially, I was unsure if there would even be a film until the last moment. Ethically, the kids could have refused to release the footage once they turned 18, which would have ended the project. God, it’s endless really. This kind of film could only be made as it was, with minimal funding and as a labor of love.
Q: After the release, how did the kids react to seeing themselves on screen?
A: They loved it. We screened it in the dog shelter and we watched it two times in a row. Everyone was laughing and clapping. Some kids were slightly disappointed because it focused on Nicu’s story, but overall, they were happy.
Q: What about presenting it to a broader audience?
A: Oh, that was another nerve-wracking experience. We premiered it at a film festival, and I was shaking before the screening. I had to go through the Q&A and I thought they were going to eat me alive, it's like an ethical nightmare. But the reaction was incredibly positive—people were moved and had many questions about the kids and the shelter.
Q: And Nicu—do you keep in contact, and how is he now?
A: I stay in touch, but communication is difficult because of his illness. He is in a wheelchair now and has many physical and mental challenges from his childhood. Although he bounced back briefly and went to school, he was too sick to sustain it. He will not have a conventional life, but I believe he is content, which is what matters most.
Bruce Lee & the Outlaw is available to watch until the end of December through THE WHY’s YouTube channel: