Queen of Katwe is scheduled to release on 23rd September and on 7th October in India. The biopic is about Phiona Mutesi from Katwe slums in Kampala, Uganda who became a Woman Candidate Master after her performance at World Chess Olympiads. The Sports Drama is directed by Mira Nair who has won various critics awards for movies like Salaam Bombay and Mississippi Masala. The movie is based on the book The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl’s Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster by Tim Crothers.
“In Chess, the Small one can become the big one.”
Queen of Katwe Cast
Apart from the director, the film has many prolific players like producer John Carls and Oscar winner Lupita Nyongo.
Queen of Katwe (2016)
Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong’o
Queen of Katwe Story
Phiona Mutesi lives in the slums of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda with her mother and other siblings. Life is a constant struggle as the mother works hard selling vegetables at the local market to put food on the table. One day, Phiona discovers the game of Chess taught by a local missionary to the slum children as a tool to keep them engaged and improve their thinking skills. Although skeptical of Phiona’s interest and Chess playing abilities, her mother takes notice after she begins to win tournaments. She joins Katende – Phiona’s mentor – and decides to extend her full support to Phiona and help her escape the life poverty.
Queen of Katwe Reviews
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert says the movie goes beyond being inspirational and the filmmakers connection to the place makes it genuine. He says that the director does not stress the finer points of the movie more than needed which makes the movie better. The characters in the movie are well developed and portrayed very well by the director. Nair has cast Kampala locals in various roles, this makes the movie all the more authentic, according to The Hollywood Reorter.
The consensus is that Queen of Katwe shows an inspirational tale of a 10-year old girl in a tasteful and authentic narrative with good performances from everyone on and off the screen.
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