We all know what a heartwarming Disney sports drama feels like. Glossy, sentimental, going for rousing win moments. When Ugandan-Belizean Disney executive VP production Tendo Nagenda read Tim Crothers’ 2013 Espn magazine feature about Phiona Mutesi, a chess master who rose up from selling corn in the Kampala, Uganda slum of Katwe, he knew he’d found the right story. But he knew that if it was going to resonate, this couldn’t be soft-focus or glib. He had to find a director with the sensibility to keep it real.
For that, he approached veteran New York filmmaker Mira Nair, who has also lived in the Ugandan capital of Kampala for 27 years. He invited himself to tea, and she jumped on board.
They developed “Queen of Katwe” (September 23) with writer William Wheeler. Nair finally met Mutesi when she was in New York to play against Kasperov, she told me in our interview.
For that, he approached veteran New York filmmaker Mira Nair, who has also lived in the Ugandan capital of Kampala for 27 years. He invited himself to tea, and she jumped on board.
They developed “Queen of Katwe” (September 23) with writer William Wheeler. Nair finally met Mutesi when she was in New York to play against Kasperov, she told me in our interview.
- 9/22/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
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