Charades picks up Paul Shkordoff’s debut feature film Import

Independent European basketball drama is heading to the international market with the backing of French sales agency Charades, which has picked up Paul Shkordoff’s debut feature film Import. Currently in post-production with no confirmed release date in Spain, the project will launch international sales at the upcoming American Film Market.

From Cannes Short Films to Belgrade Courts

Director Paul Shkordoff transitions to feature-length filmmaking following a notable run in the festival circuit. His 2020 short film Benjamin, Benny, Ben competed for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, earned selection by Barry Jenkins for the Telluride Film Festival Calling Cards section, and won the award for best Canadian short in Toronto. He followed that project with Twelve Hours at the 2021 TIFF before developing Import at the TorinoFilmLab ScriptLab in 2022.

Shkordoff co-wrote the screenplay alongside Frank Graziano, who previously co-wrote Murina—the Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović film that captured the Caméra d’Or at Cannes in 2021. The production roster brings together Metafilms producers Jason Aita, Emily Harris, and Rosalie Chicoine Perreault, working alongside Sylvain Corbeil’s company, which previously backed Mommy and Universal Language. Additional co-production partners include France’s Kazak Productions, led by Jean-Christophe Reymond (Titane), and Serbia’s Sense Productions, with financial backing from Telefilm Canada and Eurimages.

Danny Ingram Seeks Professional Basketball in Eastern Europe

The narrative centers on Danny Ingram, a promising high school basketball standout whose professional aspirations fracture following a severe physical injury. Determined to salvage his career, Ingram travels to Eastern Europe to break into a high-stakes, competitive circuit, where local scouts routinely turn him away. Forced to conceal his ongoing physical ailment, the protagonist meets Nima, a Syrian nurse assisting the city’s migrant community, who connects him with a much-needed job.

The storyline shifts when an opportunity arises to play for KK Partizan, one of the EuroLeague’s most emblematic clubs, forcing Ingram to weigh the ultimate cost of preserving his playing career. Production on the film involved direct collaboration with KK Partizan, integrating the Belgrade club and its passionate supporters into the cinematic framework.

Jawaun Daniels Leads Cast for International Film Release

American professional basketball player Jawaun Daniels, whose career spans clubs across Europe, leads the cast. He is joined by Alexis Manenti, known for Les Misérables, and Mouna Soualem, recognized for Little Girl.

Charades co-founder Pierre Mazars noted that the film offers a fresh perspective on a sport whose global image has been heavily shaped by the United States for decades. According to Mazars, basketball operates almost like a religion in Serbia, allowing Shkordoff to capture that charged atmosphere within a universal story that transcends athletics.

Shkordoff Examines Ambition and Identity in Athletics

Shkordoff stated that the film investigates the intersection of professional ambition, physical boundaries, and personal identity. In competitive athletics, the body frequently absorbs what the mind refuses to acknowledge, creating an existential crisis when the vocation defining a person’s identity suddenly vanishes.

With international sales slated to open at the American Film Market, Import stands positioned to introduce independent European basketball storytelling to distributors worldwide.