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CITRINE · Documentary
FLAWLESS — The Antwerp Diamond Heist
A CITRINE Documentary · True Crime

FLAWLESS

The Antwerp Diamond Heist — The Greatest Robbery in History

Ten layers of security. One half-eaten sandwich. The greatest diamond heist in history — told, for the first time, alongside the man who pulled it off.

Role  Director · Writer · Editor · Narrator · Interviewer Format  4K · ~17 min Year  2026
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“I am grateful for the documentary — I like it very much.” Leonardo Notarbartolo · the man who pulled off the heist

01 · The Film

Play FLAWLESS — The Antwerp Diamond Heist ▶ Watch on YouTube · 16:56 · 4K

From the film: February 2003 — a crew from the legendary ‘School of Turin’, led by Leonardo Notarbartolo, empties a vault sealed behind ten layers of security and walks out with over $100 million in diamonds. Not a single alarm sounds. The ‘heist of the century’ wasn’t cracked by force — but by patience, a decoy, and one careless mistake.

Antwerp Diamond Heist Leonardo Notarbartolo School of Turin Heist of the Century $100 Million DNA Evidence The Sandwich

The Short — 9:16 Cut

CITRINE ▶ Watch the Short

A 60-second cut for the vertical feed.

The hook of the whole story — ten layers of security, one impossible vault — distilled into a scroll-stopping vertical short, cut and captioned for Shorts, Reels and TikTok.

Open on YouTube →

The Testimonial — In His Own Words

“I am grateful to you for the documentary — I like it very much.”
“Ti sono grato per il documentario, mi piace molto… molto bello.”
— Leonardo Notarbartolo, subject of FLAWLESS

“As you could see, I am simple and spontaneous — if something comes to me and I like it, I do it. That's how it was with Eray.”

Still — the thief among the ransacked deposit boxes Still — the Diamond Center at night Still — the vault door Still — the School of Turin crew Still — the FLAWLESS opening title Still — the loot Still — a diamond in the dark Still — the perfect crime thumbnail Still — the combination dial Still — the fingerprint scan graphic

02 · The Story

February 2003. Over $100 million vanishes from a vault the world called impossible to breach — without a single alarm.

FLAWLESS is the debut episode of CITRINE, an original true-crime documentary channel I created, wrote, directed, edited and narrated. The challenge: launch a brand-new channel with a first episode that could stand next to established true-crime studios — while securing something no documentary on this story had before: the voice of the actual thief.

A diamond in the dark — frame from the FLAWLESS cold open

03 · The Interview — The Mastermind

The heart of the film is an exclusive conversation with the man who led the heist. Rather than narrate about him, the documentary lets Notarbartolo speak for himself — the planning, the moment the vault opened, the single mistake, and how he sees it today — turning a reconstruction into first-person history.

FLAWLESS cold open — the Notarbartolo interview card

04 · Production Design — The 3D Build

Every location was modeled from scratch — the Diamond Center facade, the vault, the sensors, the crew — in the film's minimalist Amber-Noir language: white maquette surfaces, amber light, forensic labels.

3D scene — the Diamond Center building at nightDiamond Center
3D scene — the vault doorThe Vault Door
3D scene — the combination dial, macro100M Combinations
3D scene — defeating the heat sensorThe Heat Sensor
3D scene — sensor versus decoy magnetThe Decoy Magnet
3D scene — the School of Turin crew figuresThe School of Turin
3D scene — the lootThe Loot
3D scene — the ransacked vault room aftermathThe Aftermath

05 · Motion & Identity — 35 Custom Graphics

The film's entire graphic language was designed from zero: an original title sequence, five act titles, security counters, forensic overlays, date stamps and the DNA reveal — all 4K, all in CITRINE gold.

FLAWLESS opening title — ten layers of security, one half-eaten sandwich, a CITRINE film
The Five Acts
Part 01 — The Plan Part 02 — The Heist Part 03 — The Escape Part 04 — The Mistake Part 05 — Where Is He Now
Motion graphic — forensic DNA matchDNA Match
Motion graphic — the lock, 100,000,000 possible codesThe Lock
Motion graphic — fingerprint scanFingerprint
Motion graphic — the 10-layer security counterSecurity Counter

06 · The Thumbnail Lab

Launch was treated like a product: thumbnail directions designed and A/B-tested with matched titles, chapters and multi-language metadata. The two that carried it:

Thumbnail — $100 million gone$100M Gone
Thumbnail — the perfect crimeThe Perfect Crime

07 · Localization — One Film, Six Languages

FLAWLESS ships in two full audio versions — the original English narration and a complete Italian dub in my own cloned voice (fitting, since the story is Italian and Notarbartolo's interview is already in Italian). Turkish subtitles are live, with German, Spanish and French subtitles planned — one upload, growing reach.

EN · original audio IT · own-voice dub TR · subtitles DE / ES / FR · subtitles (coming)

08 · How It Was Made

09 · Behind the Edit

The part no automation can fake. Behind every second of FLAWLESS is a hand-built edit — the invisible work that turns raw 3D renders, narration and sound into a film.

The FLAWLESS master timeline in Adobe Premiere Pro — eight video tracks and eight audio tracks of color-coded clips, subtitles, music and sound effects across the full 17-minute cut
Eight video tracks, eight audio tracks. Every 3D scene, motion graphic, subtitle, music cue and sound effect placed and color-coded by hand across the 17-minute cut — the human craft behind the flawless finish.

Craft & Scale

~17′
4K cinematic runtime
30+
bespoke 3D scenes
35
custom motion graphics
3→6
languages (EN/IT audio + subtitles)

Tools & Stack

Adobe Premiere Pro After Effects 3D reconstruction Magnific · AI footage ElevenLabs · voice & dubbing Epidemic Sound Cinematic color grade

What This Project Demonstrates

Directing & Editorial
End-to-end ownership: concept, long-form scriptwriting, edit and narration.
Source Access
Securing and interviewing a real-world primary source — and earning their endorsement.
Visual Craft
3D & motion art direction, a consistent cinematic identity, finished sound & grade.
Distribution
Multi-language localization, AI-assisted dubbing, and a data-driven launch strategy.

Credits

Direction · Writing · Edit · Narration · Interview — Eray Balat 3D & AI Visuals — Berkay Motion Design — Hasan Music — Epidemic Sound Featuring — Leonardo Notarbartolo
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