A rare flagship indie producer left on the French market, Bruno Nahon‘s Paris-based company Unité is preparing to beat international audiences with “Rematch,” a period psychological thriller chronicling the historical battle between world chess champion Garry Kasparov (Christian Cooke, “That Dirty Black Bag”), and IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997.
The sprawling show, directed by Yan England (“The Red Band Society”) and co-created with Nahon and André Gulluni (“Sam”), was commissioned by Arte in France and has already been sold by Federation Studios to major outlets world wide, including HBO Europe for Spain, Portugal, the Nordics, Iceland, Baltics, Central Europe, Greece and the Netherlands. Disney+ has bought first-window rights for the U.K. and can air the show in France after the Arte broadcast.
Nahon, who created Unité a decade ago, has been making daring shows and films exploring social, religious and political features of societies, and has often captured the zeitgeist in the method.
Back in 2012, Unité broke grounds with “The Churchmen,” a daring series taking a critical have a look at the Catholic Church through the stories of 5 seminarians in Paris which proved successful on Arte . Lately, the corporate also delivered “Father & Soldier,” a father-and-son war drama starring Omar Sy which tackled colonial violence in Senegal, and “Class Act,” a Netflix original series starring Laurent Laffite because the divisive French figure Bernard Tapie. Unité has also co-produced numerous critically acclaimed director-driven movies that premiered on the Cannes Film Festival, reminiscent of Nabil Ayouch’s “Casablanca Beats.”
The corporate, which comprises 4 partners – Caroline Nataf, producer; Thomas Morvan, head of productions; Jean Lioret, the financial and administrative director; and Nahon — is now reaching a brand new milestone with “Rematch,” its most ambitious series up to now. In development for 4 years before it was greenlit, “Rematch” is a passion project for Nahon, who approached England with the concept.
“I grew up in a Sepharadic Jewish family where culture, movies and music were considered secondary (…) but my mother all the time brought me to fulfill Nobel prizewinners every time there have been conferences organized,” Nahon said. “I remember meeting Georges Charpak, the Nobel Prize in Physics. Just seeing and listening to those people, even when I didn’t understand every thing, it left a mark. There have been individuals who weren’t only intelligent but additionally reflected in regards to the society they lived in and considered what it’s going to grow to be.”
“I’ve been fascinated by Garry Kasparov since I used to be a toddler. He was an out-of-norm figure, who had a rare mental and political stature,” said the producer, who co-created the show whose solid also comprises Sarah Bolger (“The Tudors”), Trine Dyrholm (“The Legacy”), Aidan Quinn (“Elementary”), Tom Austen (“The Royals”), Luke Pasqualino (“Skins”) and Orion Lee (“First Cow”).
Nahon said that the historical backdrop of the chess tournament in 1997 also gives “Rematch” a wealthy canvas. “In 1997, it was the arrival of Web and computers began making their way in universities. At the moment, the World Chess Championship was a serious media event, just like the Tour de France, or Roland Garros and the World Cup.”
“This World Chess Championship was unique since it was the primary match between two of the world’s biggest powers on the time, the largest human power of intelligence, and essentially the most powerful computer of the time — and underneath the chess game, there have been political and ideological matters at play,” said Nahon.
Because it’s a world show in English, “Rematch” was not eligible for any tax rebate in France and didn’t receive any subsidies from the National Film Board (CNC). In consequence, the series filmed in Montreal and Budapest. “Rematch” also reunites Unité with Federation Studios, with whom he worked on “Mytho,” the hit show that won an award at Series Mania Festival.
The banner’s pipeline of projects include the following film by Leyla Bouzid, “A voix basse,” which can begin filming on April 22; in addition to “Bombonera,” the feature debut of Syrine Boulanouar.
Unité can be prepping some TV shows reminiscent of “Une famille française,” created by Pauline Guena et Nacim Mehtar, and commissioned by Arte.
The outfit can be developing “Six Shots,” an original anthology revolving around people’s relationship with guns. Nahon has assembled a stellar key crew for the six-part series, including the artistic director Sylvain Lemaitre (“Pieces of a Woman”), editors Xavier Sirven and Jean Bapstiste Baudoin. He’s also tapped Victor Jenkins (“Fleabag,” “Broadchurch”) to solid the limited series which shall be executive produced by Olivier Glaas.
A part of the Creatives – an alliance of indie players – Nahon says he has no plans on joining a giant group. “The largest successes today, whether in cinema or in series, are the fruits of independent corporations that value quality over quantity,” said the producer, citing the Oscar-nominated movie “Anatomy of a Fall.”
One other still of “Rematch:”
Christian Cooke ©LeoPinter
