EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based genre specialist Reel Suspects has boarded esports drama Gamer Girls by Hong Kong filmmakers Veronica Bassetto and Sophie Yang ahead of its international premiere in Rotterdam next week.

The picture follows the adventures of the members of disbanded all-girls esports team Dollhouse, who reunite to stage a comeback under the new moniker of Gamer Girls.

This mission hits a wall when the local gaming authority suspends all Hong Kong player accounts just weeks before a key tournament selection stage. The teammates battle to bring back the accounts forming unexpected alliances along the way.

Set in a games world created by Bassetto, the first time directors say the story taps into the inner struggles of young people in Hong Kong and the role video games play in allowing them to experience a sense of empowerment in the virtual world.

The picture is produced by Hong Kong producer Jacqueline Liu, whose recent credits include Valley of the Shadow of Death and The Way We Talk, which played at the BFI London Film and went on to win its co-star Suet-Ying Chung best actress at the 2024 Golden Horse awards.

It gathers a buzzy ensemble cast of Hong Kong actresses and influencers including Angela Yuen Summer, Alma Kwok Lilith, Sabrina Cheung Raven, Ng Wing Sze Kaki, Jeannie Ng Miko and CY Chan Login

“Gamer Girls is an entertaining and empowering e-sports debut feature with very accomplished cinematic aesthetics. Due to the ever-growing interest to e-sports, we feel that audience will be captured by this topic that still stays quite unexplored in the cinema world,” said Reel Suspects CEO Matteo Lovadina.

The company will launch sales on the title at the European Film Market next month, with other titles in its slate including  Brazilian vampire romance Love Kills by Luiza Schelling Tubaldini and Portuguese debut body horror Bodyhackers by Carlos Conceição.