Polish public broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) has added feature film “Shattered Games” to its international sales slate alongside rom-com film “The Love Buzz” and historical series “The Bay of Spies.”
“Shattered Games” explores Poland’s rich history and influence in the game of chess. The Polish national chess squad, known as the “Golden Team” in Poland, won the world chess championship in Hamburg in 1930, and was renamed by the German press as the “Bombenmannschaft” or “Bomber Crew.”
“The matches the team played are still to this day described in chess textbooks as examples of masterful moves and games,” TVP said in a statement.
The film focuses on the team leader, Akiba Rubinstein, alongside his fellow players Dawid Przepiórka, Ksawery Tartakower, Mieczyslaw Najdorf, Paulin Frydman and Kazimierz Makarczyk.
It follows them as they battle to win the trophy as well as dealing with the mental illness of Rubinstein and the outbreak of World War II. The film tracks the fate of the Polish players, some of whom are Jewish, as the Nazis occupy Poland.
“Shattered Games” was filmed in the interiors of historic pre-war palaces and townhouses in Poland, while the sanatorium for the insane which Rubinstein is sent to is filmed inside the famous castle in Moszna, Poland, where a neurosis treatment center operated.
The film was directed by Marek Bukowski and exec produced by Jacek Stanclik and Piotr Mikołajczak. It is produced by TVP and executive produced by Studio Basta.
Urszula Suszko, chief sales executive of international sales at TVP, said: “The heroes of the film are like characters from American cinema of the 1930s or later Film Noir. They form a tight-knit group of friends, led by the charismatic David Przepiórka, while the brilliant Akiba Rubinstein shines as its most splendid world-famous star. The outbreak of war marks the end of this elegant world and leads to the final disintegration of a golden, brilliant team.”
