'The Queen of Katwe' is an upcoming drama film based on the real life of Ugandan chess player Phiona Mutesi. Disney revealed the first photograph from the new film featuring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o in her new role as Phiona's mother.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Disney has recently unveiled the first image from their newest biographical drama about a Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi. The photograph showed the first official peek of Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o in her role as Phiona's mother, Harriet Mutesi.
The Mexican-Kenyan actress expressed her enthusiasm over the project saying that shooting on-location in Uganda was a "homecoming" of sorts. She said, "It was so great to go back home... I'm from East Africa. I'm from Kenya, which is just next door to Uganda."
Nyong'o sealed her fate as one of Hollywood's top tier actresses when she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Steve McQueen's period drama film '12 Years A Slave'. In 2014, she was named People's 'Most Beautiful Woman' and Glamour's 'Woman of the Year'. She went on to star in J.J. Abrams' 'Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens' and is currently filming 'Star Wars Episode VIII' slated for a 2017 release.
According to HNGN, 'The Queen of Katwe' is directed by Mira Nair of 'Vanity Fair', 'Amelia' and 'Monsoon Wedding' fame. Her new film is based on the true-to-life story of Ugandan chess player Phiona Mutesi. It followed a young Phiona in the slums of Uganda working towards her dream of becoming a world-class chess grandmaster.
Nyong'o revealed, "This is a story about the commitment to a dream even in the most discouraging of situations. The slum of Katwe is a very difficult place to live, but you see these people living there with dignity and making it day by day. And so to go there and to have that environment to work from really did sober us and enliven us."
Joining her in the cast is relative newcomer Madina Nalwanga playing the role of Phiona and David Oyelowo playing the role of Robert Katende, a missionary who teaches children to play chess. According to Indiewire, the film is based on an ESPN Magazine story published in 2011 and expanded on by a book by Tim Crothers.
'The Queen of Katwe' is an upcoming biographical drama film directed by Mira Nair based on a screenplay by William Wheeler. Disney began work on the film in 2012. It is slated to be released sometime in 2016.
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