Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s strand in which, each fortnight, we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track… So, we’re going to do the hard work for you.
As Series Mania approaches, we’re profiling a buzzy drama out of Belgium that will be premiering in the festival’s International Panorama. The series follows a dystopian near-future Flanders, where a far-right government has expelled all foreign-born nationals. Those desperate enough to stay have one choice: Compete in a ruthless reality show to win a residence permit.
Name: The Best Immigrant
Country: Belgium
Producers: Caviar
Distributor: Sony Pictures Television
Streamer: Streamz
For fans of: Years and Years, Children of Men, The Running Man, The Hunger Games franchise
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There are several reasons The Best Immigrant should be on your radar. Firstly, it tackles subject matter that cuts to the heart of the slightly terrifying state of local and global politics. Second, it comes from one of the producers behind the original Bad Sisters, Caviar, and third, it’s one of the best performing originals on Streamz, the Belgian streaming service that has developed a reputation for finding local gems and propelling them to the global stage.
If that wasn’t enough, the five-episode series has picked up buzz ahead of Series Mania’s International Competition, where it faces off against eight other shows from around the world. Sony Pictures Television boarded for sales after it was given a Special Mention in the Paramount New Stories Award at the MIA Market in October last year.
The story centers on Muna (Jennifer Heylen) and Jamal (Farouk Ben Ali), an immigrant couple living in Belgium. When the new far-right government decides all foreign-born nationals must return to their original countries, the pair make the desperate call to compete in a brutal reality TV show to win permanent residence cards.
Despite its nightmarish core, the plan was always to create a show that was “fun to watch and not just a dark, dystopian thriller,” says Caviar Managing Partner and The Best Immigrant exec producer Dimitri Verbeeck. Dark humor and action are contrasted with the hateful rhetoric of the government and the indifference of the fictional show’s producers to create a unique proposition on the international TV market.
Further to that, Verbeeck says, was a focus on other issues facing immigrants. “Obviously the extreme right’s agenda is one of the main topics, but what The Best Immigrant also does really well is highlight micro-aggressions – something that almost everybody does almost every day,” he explains. Making the audience laugh at certain scenarios, and then question what they are laughing at, adds another layer to the story, which is based on a script from young screenwriters Cristina Poppe and Raoul Groothuizen from an idea they had a decade ago.
Groothuizen, a Netherlands-based writer, picks up the story. “We came up with the idea, it was exactly when Trump got elected for the first time and when politicians in Europe started saying very harsh and scary things, so that definitely inspired the show. On the larger scale, we also really wanted to make something about people in very difficult situations, being pushed to making even harsher choices and also to reflect on how far they are willing to go to stay in a country that might not even accept them in the end.”
Poppe and Groothuizen’s vision began materializing in 2023, when they took part in the first edition of Streamz Academy, a development program supporting emerging writing talent. Out of 534 entries, The Best Immigrant stood out and a panel of judges agreed it should become a full series. Experienced screenwriters Michel Sabbe (Styx), Hasse Steenssens (Geldwolven) and Michael De Cock (Geldwolven) aided them, as Verbeeck and Caviar adapted what had originally been a more comedic story that had positioned Europe “more like a fortress,” as Groothuizen recalls, with immigrants confined to islands as they await news of their residency.
“It was much more dystopian and really for a narrower audience, so that’s then we started to develop the project for as wide as possible an audience and still keep the the main focus and topics of the show the same,” says Helena Vlogaert, Managing Producer at Caviar and an executive producer on the show.
“Once we made that change away from people trying to get in to people trying not to leave, it was basically a straight line to where we are today,” says Groothuizen.
Production began in January last year and completed for a mid-December launch. Starring alongside Heylen (Jackson & Malone) and Ben Ali (Without Appointment) are the likes of Saïd Boumazoughe (Mocro Mafia), Greg Timmermans (Moresnet), Louis Talpe (Onder Vuur), Charlotte Timmers (Safe Harbor) and more. Newer acting talent such as Noa Tambwe Kabati, Tama Theophore Kabeya, Lauren De Bie, Laura De Geest and Evelyne Chen were also cast.
Also attached to the resulting series are Adil El Arbi and and Bilall Fallah, the Belgian-Moroccan directors of Bad Boys For Life and Bad Boys: Ride or Die, who took executive producer roles, and Michael Abay, an emerging Belgian director who made Streamz series Kameleon. Caviar and Lompvis – who teamed for Canneseries 2025 competition title Dead End – are the co-producers, with the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Screen Flanders, Telenet and Caviar Film Financing also supporting the production.
Ratings have been strong since its launch at the backend of 2025, Streamz has reported, even if the show is considered an unexpected hit. “If it weren’t for the Streams Academy, I’m not sure if it would have been commissioned because it’s a risky project, but this month we were at Streamz office to analyze the results of the viewings, and it was one of their best shows to date,” says Verbeeck.
“It’s definitely not easy to make quality TV from a small-language territory, but because we are a small industry and with Belgium’s history of great artists even as far back as [famous Belgian artist Peter Paul] Rubens, we have just got the knack for these kinds of things,” adds Vlogaert. “We find these little gems that we can bring to the audience.”
Accidental favors from right-wing politicians
With President Trump’s ICE agents ripping citizens off the streets and deportations happening more regularly around the world, the subject matter is wildly relevant. Groothuizen recalls the unsettling feeling of the U.S.’s lurch further right under Trump. “It was like, ‘Oh shit, the thing Christina and I wrote about is actually happening in one of the biggest countries in the world,’” he says. “It was very, very weird, but it made us believe in the project even more.”
A local right-wing politician jumped on the show, which the writers say gave it another unexpected round of press attention. “That really pushed our marketing and press campaign,” says Groothuizen. “He did as a favor – he didn’t mean to but he certainly did.”
There have been rumors of a U.S. remake of the show, which would put it in the company of Bad Sisters and other Belgian shows that have been remade in the English language to great success. No-one is confirming right now, but Verbeeck says: “It tells a story that everyone knows, and it’s very entertaining as well. It’s also a bingeable series which really helps, so I think it’s got a strong potential in local markets in terms of remakes.”
For Groothuizen, Series Mania marks the next step on the remarkable road The Best Immigrant has taken to find its way. “For me personally, I am just really curious to see if this show connects overseas with this more international audience.”
An open-ended season closer means there could be a second season, or the concepts of immigration and modern-day political populism could see Groothuizen, Poppe and co developing something “still in the same world and on the same topics,” but in a different format or script.
We’ll see how The Best Immigrant fares at Series Mania next week as the show competes in its own TV competition at the International Panorama.