In Director Mira Nair’s new drama, Queen of Katwe, the life of a young Ugandan girl is changed forever after she discovers her talent for the game of chess.
Nair’s Queen of Katwe tells the true story of Phiona Mutesi, a girl from a shantytown suburb of Kampala, Uganda called Katwe. Despite her hardships, Phiona discovers she has the makings of a bona fide chess prodigy. But she must overcome the impositions of gender, social status, and her own lack of an education to break all the glass ceilings standing in the way of her dream of becoming an international chess champion.
Following the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles on September 18, Nair sat down with Director Ava DuVernay (Selma), to discuss the making of Queen of Katwe. Nair also spoke about the film with Director Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) following the DGA membership screening in New York on September 28.
In addition to Queen of Katwe, Nair’s credits include the feature films The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Monsoon Wedding, Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, The Perez Family, and Mississippi Masala; the documentaries The Laughing Club of India, Children of Desired Sex and Jama Masjid Street Journal. Her first feature, Salaam Bombay!, was nominated for an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language film. Nair has been a member of the Guild since 2001.
You can listen to Nair's Q&A from Los Angeles with DuVernay by clicking the podcast episode embedded below.