IN OFFICIAL SELECTION “MATANZAS” WRITTEN BY PIOTR KASZUBA

BIO:

Piotr Kaszuba was born on February 28, 1970 in Olsztyn, Poland. He is a Bachelor of Science. After college, Piotr Kaszuba worked as a city reporter and journalist. He moved to the US in 2003 where he works as a teacher and coaches his middle school soccer team. In addition to teaching, Piotr Kaszuba writes screenplays. He currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida with his wife Katarzyna, son Jakub and four adorable cats.

“MATANZAS” - A Screenplay Written by Piotr KASZUBA (USA)

‘Based on a true story’

Logline: (Genre Epic/Historical)

16th Century, France begins to colonize Florida. Young sailors, ambitious explorers, and nobility are swept up in a feverish rush to search for fame, freedom and gold. They do not know that they are being used as pawns by their own leaders in a diplomatic chess game between France and rival Spain.

Synopsis:

In mid16th-century France, young Patrice Lachere’s father abandons him to fend for himself until he gains favor with French Captain Laudonniere who takes Lachere on as his orderly. In the Mediterranean, Laudonniere’s ship is taken as a prize by Spanish explorer Pedro Mendendez. Laudonniere’s protestant crew manage to win their freedom from the Catholic King of Spain and return to France where Lachere runs straight into the arms of his secret Catholic lover, Agathe. Admiral Coligny convinces the Queen Mother of France that Huguenots should start settlements in America to rival Spain’s New World dominance. Catherine de Medici agrees to outfit two ships under captains Ribault and Laudonniere for an exploratory voyage. The expedition lands on Florida’s northeastern shores (what we now know as Jacksonville). The French make friends with Timucua natives. Chief Saturiba gives them two of his men: Oquore and Etaqua. Lachere becomes a mentor for the two natives who are frightened to leave their home. Lachere teaches them French and learns Timucuan. The expedition marks the northern border of their discovery in what is now South Carolina. Oquore and Etaqua attempt to escape at night. Lachere and Laudonniere don’t stop them. They don’t want their friends to be puppets of the court in Paris. Against Laudonniere’s wishes, Ribault inspires 26 volunteers to stay in a tiny fortification named Charlesfort to set up a French colony. Lachere is among them. He wants to become a nobleman and find enough gold to provide for Agathe. Ribault promises to resupply the garrison as quickly as possible. Laudonniere and Ribault sail back to Dieppe, France, where they find the country embroiled in civil war pitting Catholics against Huguenots. The sea captains join Huguenot forces in an unsuccessful defense of the city. Agathe is attacked by a Catholic soldier and her 11-year-old brother Marcel helps her brutally kill the soldier with a sickle and a fork as he rapes her. Ribault sails to England to ask for funds to return to “New France” to supply the languishing colony at Charlesofort. But he is played for a pawn by Thomas Stuckley, a spy for the Spanish, and Queen Elizabeth locks him in the Tower of London.

Food begins to run short and fire destroys most of Charlesfort. Lachere gets banished from the fort by sadistic Captain Albert. The ill-treated soldiers mutiny against Albert, kill him and bring Lachere back. In France the treaty ends the war and Laudonniere recruits colonists for a permanent settlement to New France. Many Huguenots sign up so they can worship freely in America. Even one free black man is among volunteers. Meanwhile, believing they have been abandoned, the soldiers of Charlesfort garrison build a clumsy boat with the help of natives whom Lachere has accidentally offended. With few provisions and a jury-rigged sail of shirts and bedclothes, they recklessly put to sea. Water enters the boat from all sides. The soldiers eat their leather belts and shoes, and drink salt water and urine. At the end of their strength, they decide to eat one of their own to sustain the others. They choose Lachere and begin to consume his flesh before he’s even dead. Off the English coast, an English barque rescues the surviving eighteen just after they sink Lachere’s bones in an old trunk.