Break the Game, a film about Legend of Zelda speedrunner Narcissa Wright, was supposed to air on PBS’ POV series this month before it was suddenly pulled by the network in February. According to director Jane Wagner, the executive producer and director of POV told her they were worried about the political repercussions of showing a film centered on a trans person after the recent threats to public media by legislators and the Trump administration.
Although PBS has since rescheduled the film to air in June, Wagner will debut Break the Game on Twitch streamer Trihex’s channel on Monday. After the premiere, Trihex will host a Q&A with Wagner and a roundtable discussion with Twitch streamers about representation, mental health, and cyberbullying.
“Streaming the film on Twitch allows us the opportunity to bypass traditional gatekeepers and directly engage our audience of gaming enthusiasts all around the world without censorship,” Wagner told Polygon in a recent interview.
Wagner said she pitched the idea of accompanying Twitch streams to POV when it picked up Break the Game, but PBS said it couldn’t allow them as part of its licensing deal. When it pulled the initial broadcast of the film, however, she was told PBS “changed their mind about the Twitch streams.”
Twitch is a fitting place to show a film comprised of footage from Wright’s streams, and one that focuses on her relationship to her audience as she breaks a speedrunning world record and tries to do it again. Wagner said Trihex’s experience as a speedrunner and his “personal experience with many of the issues and themes explored in Break the Game makes him the perfect person to host the conversation around the film.“
Wagner believes PBS’ reversal is “absolutely indicative of a larger shift in independent filmmaking and the media as a whole.”
“Not only are we experiencing media consolidation that has limited opportunities for independent storytellers, but the threat of retribution from the Trump administration has had a chilling effect on the entire landscape,” she said. “My hope is that speaking out about what happened will empower others who have experienced similar situations of censorship to speak up and fight for our collective ability to tell stories that matter.”
