‘Words Are Weapons’: Michaël R. Roskam on Turning a WWII Fake-Newspaper Prank Into a Heist Movie
Belgian director Michaël R. Roskam has turned the true story of "Le Faux Soir" — a November 1943 stunt in which Belgian journalists and printers hijacked the Nazi-controlled newspaper Le Soir to distribute a satirical fake edition mocking the occupiers — into a heist-style film. Roskam, known for Bullhead and The Drop, frames the story as "Ocean's Eleven, but with a newspaper", focusing on the danger and ingenuity of publishing the prank rather than treating it as straight satire, and premieres it at TIFF with sales handled by Goodfellas.
The project originated with co-writer Bernard Falaise, who first encountered the story during university research into media piracy and satire and decided to script it after the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks underscored its relevance. Roskam deliberately avoided a comedic or satirical tone akin to Life is Beautiful or Jojo Rabbit, instead casting some of Belgium and France's best-known comic actors — including François Damiens, Arieh Worthalter, Bouli Lanners and Mélanie Thierry — to play the real-life plotters with dramatic restraint.
- Roskam's new film dramatises WWII's "first media hack" as a heist movie.
- "Le Faux Soir" recreates the 1943 fake-newspaper prank against Nazi occupiers.
- Film premieres at TIFF, stars top Belgian and French comic actors.
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Le Faux Soir was a real act of resistance carried out in occupied Belgium during the Second World War. In November 1943, a group of journalists and printers secretly took over the production of Le Soir, a Belgian newspaper that the occupying Nazi authorities had seized and used for propaganda, and distributed thousands of copies of a fake, satirical edition mocking the regime. The operation was highly risky, since anyone caught could have faced severe punishment, and it has since become a well-known story of civilian defiance through print media.
This background is now the basis of a new film by Belgian director Michaël R. Roskam, whose previous credits include Bullhead and The Drop. Rather than presenting the events as comedy or satire, he has approached the material as a heist film, emphasising the planning, danger and logistics behind pulling off the prank, and has cast well-known Belgian and French actors in dramatic roles.
The film is being shown for the first time at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), with international sales being handled by the company Goodfellas. The story's writers have also pointed to more recent events, including the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks in France, as part of why they felt this wartime episode about journalism, satire and risk still resonates today.