The Toronto International Film Festival kicks off in 2 days (September 10), so for the rest of the week, I’ll be highlighting the African diaspora titles that are scheduled to screen there this year… continuing with this one…

From co-directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah – Brussels-based filmmakers of Moroccan descent – comes "Black," a feature film that’s based on the novel of the same name by Dutch author Dirk Bracke, which tells the story of Mavela, a 15-year-old member of a notorious gang called the Black Bronx. She falls madly in love with Marwan, an extremely charismatic member of a rival gang, known as the 1080s, and the young couple is forced to make a brutal choice between gang loyalty and the love they have for one another.

Here’s how TIFF summarizes the film: "El Arbi and Fallah’s film moves forward at an electrifying pace, with furious energy and a gritty realism reminiscent of epic gangster films like ‘City of God’ and ‘Goodfellas.’ Ricocheting from moments of extreme tenderness to scenes of extreme violence, and enhanced by the raw performances of its young leads, ‘Black’ is a full-on, no-holds-barred experience that will resonate long after you’ve left the cinema."

The film stars Martha Canga Antonio and Aboubakr Bensaihi.

Arbi and Fallah directed from a script they co-wrote with Nele Meirhaeghe and Hans Herbots.

Haling from Caviar/Climax Films, the film is produced by Frank Van Passel, Ivy Vanhaecke and Bert Hamelinck, and executive produced by Hendrik Verthe, Kobe Van Steenberghe

Check out the trailer below: