La Dame de Katwe

Original title: Queen of Katwe

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

19K

YOUR RATING

David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, and Madina Nalwanga in La Dame de Katwe (2016)

The true story of a young girl from the streets of rural Uganda whose world rapidly changes when she is introduced to the game of chess.

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Biography Drama Sport

Living in the slum of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda, is a constant struggle for 10-year-old Phiona and her family. Her world changes one day when she meets Robert Katende, a missionary who teache... Read allLiving in the slum of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda, is a constant struggle for 10-year-old Phiona and her family. Her world changes one day when she meets Robert Katende, a missionary who teaches children how to play chess.Living in the slum of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda, is a constant struggle for 10-year-old Phiona and her family. Her world changes one day when she meets Robert Katende, a missionary who teaches children how to play chess.

Director
- Mira Nair
Writers
- William Wheeler
- Tim Crothers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

19K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Mira Nair
Writers
- William Wheeler
- Tim Crothers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 4 wins & 30 nominations total

Trivia
Director Mira Nair decided to adapt "Queen of Katwe" into a film after making a documentary about the life of the man who trained Phiona Mutesi, Robert Katende.

Goofs
All the end games of chess shown, but one, are a checkmate, something which hardly ever happens once players have acquired some experience. The one exception is when Phiona resigns a game which is treated as a personal crisis, when in fact it's normal to resign from hopeless positions - especially when playing with the black pieces, for this brings the disadvantage of not making the first move.

Never seen in the movie are any games ending with a draw, which in chess is extremely common.

Quotes
Robert Katende: [Robert speaking to Phiona] Sometimes the place you are use to... is not the place where you belong

Crazy credits
Just before the credits, there are short scenes of the major characters with the real people they portrayed. A brief synopsis of what the real people have done since the events of the film and are doing at the time of the film's completion is displayed as well.

Connections
Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Kate Hudson/David Oyelowo/De La Soul feat. Estelle (2016)

Soundtracks
Ndi Muna Uganda
Written by Bobi Wine
Performed by Bobi Wine feat. Nubian Lee
Courtesy of Fire Base Records

User reviews90

Featured review

8/10

chess for the win

Mira Nair previously focused on Uganda in 1991's "Mississippi Masala" (about an Indian family forced into exile by Idi Amin). "Queen of Katwe" is the true story of Phiona Mutesi, who started playing chess to get out of Kampala's slums. Katwe is the sort of place where you have to bribe people to do even minimal tasks. Lupita Nyong'o plays Phiona's mother, the sort of person who knows the slums all too well and isn't thrilled with her daughter's goal.

One of the most effective scenes is when the Katwe children compete against the students of King's College: the Katwe children wear the traditional Ugandan attire while the rich children wear western clothes, showing the disconnect between the social classes (a scene towards the end of "Mississippi Masala" showed something similar: when the father returns to Uganda, he looks westernized while the Ugandans wear the traditional clothes).

Admittedly, I don't know how accurate the movie is, especially since I had never heard of the story before the movie's release. Nonetheless, it's a powerful, uplifting story. The people involved in this movie deserve ample recognition for their contributions, and I hope that it draws more attention to Phiona Mutesi's achievements.