'The Brutalist' EP, 'Nawi' Makers Strike Three-Film Co-Pro Deal, Set Kenya Soccer Doc 'Champions of Nowhere' (Exclusive)

Hollywood Buzz News | July 21, 2026

In a move that bridges independent European cinema with socially conscious African storytelling, the production team behind The Brutalist and the Kenyan collective that brought us Nawi have sealed a three-picture co-production pact. The first project greenlit under the arrangement is a documentary about Kenyan soccer dreams titled Champions of Nowhere.

The deal unites executive producer Andrew Morrison, who helped shepherd Brady Corbet’s acclaimed epic The Brutalist, with the Nairobi-based filmmakers behind Nawi, the 2024 climate-action drama that drew international attention for its grassroots production model. The partnership aims to develop features and documentaries that spotlight untold stories from East Africa while leveraging the global distribution networks each side brings.

Champions of Nowhere focuses on a community of young footballers in the Kibera slum of Nairobi who train on a garbage-strewn pitch with little more than raw talent and fierce ambition. The documentary follows their journey as they compete for a spot in a national youth tournament, with their only escape from poverty hinging on what they can achieve with a worn ball and no formal coaching. The project is currently in pre-production, with shooting set to begin later this year in Kenya.

The three-film pact also includes two narrative features still in development, though sources close to the deal describe them as character-driven dramas rooted in contemporary East African life. The specific projects have not yet been publicly named.

This partnership arrives on the heels of The Brutalist’s considerable arthouse footprint. Corbet’s sprawling drama, which runs 215 minutes, tells the story of László Tóth, a visionary architect who flees post-war Europe and lands in Pennsylvania with his wife Erzsébet. There, they encounter Harrison Lee Van Buren Sr., a wealthy and demanding patron who offers to rebuild Tóth’s legacy but at a steep personal cost. The film stars Adrien Brody as László, Felicity Jones as Erzsébet, and Guy Pearce as the formidable Van Buren Sr. Rounding out the cast are Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Isaach de Bankolé, and Alessandro Nivola.

Released in December 2024, The Brutalist earned a TMDb rating of 6.951/10 and sparked conversations about architecture, immigration, and the cost of creative freedom. Morrison, who served as an executive producer on that project, has described the new co-production venture as a natural extension of the collaborative, risk-taking ethos that defined The Brutalist.

The partnership is also a significant step for Nawi’s production team, which operates under a model that prioritizes local crew training and community engagement. Nawi itself premiered at several festivals and was praised for its authentic portrayal of a young woman fighting deforestation in rural Kenya. The filmmakers have long voiced frustration with Western productions that parachute into Africa without investing in local infrastructure.

Now, with this deal, the two sides are betting that a shared slate of projects can demonstrate a sustainable alternative. Morrison will provide executive oversight, while the Kenyan team handles on-the-ground production, casting, and cultural authenticity. The arrangement splits rights and revenue between the partners, with an emphasis on ensuring that profits from Champions of Nowhere and subsequent films flow back into the communities they depict.

Details on a distributor or festival strategy for Champions of Nowhere have not been announced, though the documentary is expected to target the festival circuit before a streaming or limited theatrical release. Given the subject matter and the growing appetite for soccer stories on screen, the film could join recent company like The Beautiful Game or Pelé as part of a broader trend in sports documentary filmmaking.

For now, the producers are focused on casting the young athletes whose real lives will anchor the film. They plan to shoot entirely on location in Kibera and surrounding areas, using a mix of professional and first-time filmmakers from the community. The result, they hope, will feel far removed from the polished, controlled environments of period drama sets like the Pennsylvania estates of The Brutalist, but connected by a shared belief in cinema’s ability to change perspectives.

The three-film deal is expected to unfold over the next four years, with Champions of Nowhere leading the slate and the two narrative features following at staggered intervals. Hollywood Buzz News will continue to track developments as production begins.

Source: Hollywood Reporter