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EXCLUSIVE: Goodfellas and Mediawan Sport have joined forces on the creation of Round 12, a new label designed to co-produce, co-develop and co-market fiction and documentary content centered on sport, for films and TV series.
Taking its name from the final crucial round in a boxing match, the entity is born out of the shared passion for sport of Goodfellas President Vincent Maraval and sales exec Antoine Guilhem, together with Éric Hannezo at Mediawan Sport.
The label stems from their shared belief that there is a gap in the market for a dedicated and curated approach to sports-driven storytelling. The partners aim to position Round 12 as a key point of reference and a leading specialist for sports content in the eyes of distributors and platforms worldwide.
The passion for sports at Goodfellas has been reflected in the past by its support of films such as Maradona by Emir Kusturica, Tyson by James Toback, and Red Army by Gabe Polsky, which were screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
Meanwhile, Mediawan Sport, led by Éric Hannezo, brings recognized expertize in the sports domain, exemplified by productions such as Le K Benzema, Anelka Misunderstood, Le Stade, Au Micro, or the Ligue 1+ programs.
Vincent Maraval and Éric Hannezo will present Round 12 as part of the Sport, Literature and Cinema Festival in Lyon this week.
Round 12’s expanded slate will then launch at the EFM, featuring two soccer fiction features and eight documentaries.
The new soccer feature acquisitions include Venezuelan director Marcel Rasquin’s thriller Breakaway, about a young man forced into the blood-soaked world of underground soccer money games after his older brother runs up a gangland debt.
Rasquin previously made waves with the award-winning soccer-themed drama Hermano and Venezuelan exile drama Simon. Casting is currently underway on his new feature.
The second fiction feature, Marta, is a coming-of-age tale directed by Andrucha Waddington, based on the true-life events of six-time FIFA World Player of the Year, Marta Vieira da Silva, widely regarded as the greatest female football player of all time.
Brazilian rising star Alice Carvalho (The Secret Agent) will star in the title role.
Waddington’s previous credits include Me You Them, which premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard, garnering a Special Mention and was Brazil’s official Oscar entry, The House of Sand, and Lope.
He has also directed fiction works and documentary series, including several Netflix biopics, with subjects including football player Vini Jr. and popstar Anitta: Made in Honório. His new feature is produced by Conspiração Filmes, the company behind Walter Salles’ Oscar-winning I’m Still Here, and co-produced by Globo and Fox in the Snow.
The slate also includes Bon Gamin, le paradoxe Gane, about MMA fighter Ciryl Gane; and Imane Khelif, combattante, about the Algerian boxing gold medallist who prevailed after been caught up in a fierce gender row at the 2024 Olympics, and Les Poings Serrés, about Kévin Naïk, a community youth worker and respected MMA coach, who was violently attacked in a settling of scores and had to rebuild his life.
Further documentary titles include Steve Hoover’s feature Ferrari: Fury & The Monster, which explores the untold story of legendary engineer Mauro Forghieri, a key architect of Ferrari’s legacy from 1961 onward.
The film delves into Forghieri’s complex relationship with Enzo Ferrari and his pivotal role in creating some of the most coveted cars in automotive history, including the Ferrari 250 GTO.
Adler holds Italian rights and is planning a release on 200 screens in Italy in the first quarter of 2026. The film is produced by Monella Kaplan, Stefano Gallini-Durante and Emily Korteweg, alongside Michael Angelo Covino (The Climb, Splitsville), and executive produced by Brian Mueth, Kyle Marvin, and Tower Way’s Scott Veltri.
Also featured is Ladies Please Don’t Touch the Stage, directed by Paulo Tocha and Dinesh Wicks, following two fighters who competed in the first-ever women’s Muay Thai bout at Bangkok’s legendary Lumpinee Stadium. Long considered the spiritual home of Thai boxing, the venue had historically barred women from even touching the ring, a rule that inspired the film’s title.
The U.S. production is a collaboration between Side Control Productions and Jackson Pictures.
Further titles include The Lost Dream Team, chronicling Yugoslavia’s last ever national basketball team, which claimed victory at the 1991 FIBA EuroBasket just as the country was moving toward dissolution.
Featuring archival footage of the championship and players such as Toni Kukoč, Dino Rađa and Dušan Ivković, the film was released in Serbia and Croatia on September 18 2025 by MCF and Jučer’s respective territories.
The Serbian and Croatian Production involves Sekvenca, Set Sails Films, Wake Up Films, Articolture, Tramal Films and will have its premiere at Lyon’s Sport, Literature and Cinema festival.
Additional documentaries on the slate include No More Trouble by Tommaso Romanelli, a personal exploration of the legacy of his late father, legendary yacht engineer and sailor Andrea Romanelli, who was lost at sea in 1998 during a record-attempt transatlantic crossing when the vessel he designed was hit by a storm.
Released in Italy by Tucker Film, the film is co-produced by Teorema Studio and Indigo Film (The Great Beauty).
Further titles include Nico Marzano’s Sunday After Sunday, described as a love letter to the Naples soccer team; Nicolas de Virieu’s Dunk or Die, about slam dunk superstar Kadour Ziani, and Nasty, about controversial Romanian tennis legend Ilie Năstase which premiered at Cannes film festival in 2024.
Acquisitions for Round 12 will be handled by the Goodfellas team and Mediawan Sport team.
English (US) ·