Movie project aims to tell story of Ukraine soccer club Shakhtar during Russian invasion

TORONTO (AP) – A film screenplay is being written about Ukrainian soccer club Shakhtar Donetsk’s 2022 season during Russia’s full military invasion of its home Donbas region.

The project with a script commissioned by writing partnership Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson was announced Tuesday at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The story aims to capture “a real-life underdog tale of grit, heart, and survival set against the backdrop of war,” the club said in a joint statement with the film’s producers.

Shakhtar has been a regular in the Champions League for 20 years – reaching the quarterfinals in 2011 – despite being exiled from Donetsk since 2014 when Russian-backed forces first moved into Donbas. The team has since played home games in Ukraine’s league and cup in cities across the country.

Shakhtar was top of the Ukrainian league in February 2022 when Russia launched a full invasion. The soccer season was canceled and Shakhtar’s international players, including several from Brazil, had to leave Ukraine.

The team continued to play charity games around Europe despite losing some players who were freed from their contracts by emergency rules passed by FIFA.

“We’re incredibly honored to be able to tell this story,” Tamasy and Johnson said in a statement. “It is everything we love in a movie – emotional, inspiring, thrilling – and above all else a gripping account of the triumph of the human spirit and of the enduring strength of our most cherished values: freedom, compassion, and courage.”

Shakhtar is currently second in the Ukrainian league and will play this season in Europe’s third-tier competition, the Conference League.