Class, income and education didn't matter. The lessons took place inside of Agape Sanctuary, a loosely put together church with a listing roof and crumbling walls. Realizing the kids he was working with weren't all going to play soccer (partially because the parents couldn't afford medical bills for injuries), Katende taught them chess, which he had mastered when he was younger.
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Missionary Robert Katende, portrayed by David Oyelowo in the movie, welcomed her and taught her how to play. Like in the movie, Phiona was introduced to chess at age 9 after secretly following her brother Brian to a meeting of the Sports Outreach Institute, a Christian mission where she observed him playing chess. Two days later she was awake and began to recover. After begging for money from her sister, Harriet took Phiona to the hospital and doctors removed fluid from Phiona's spine after she lost consciousness. Her mother Harriet believes that she had malaria. The Queen of Katwe true story confirms that Phiona nearly died when she was 8 years old. It was like they had to assemble the performances in the editing room.Yes. I feel like it's hard to do such a breezy inspirational story right without being cloying or just eye-rollingly cheesy, but this one did it.
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This is exactly the kind of movie that you put on when you're visiting your parents or want something feel good and PG rated.Īnd damn, it's a good movie. This is a movie that a.) fulfills ESPN Films deal they have (might be done), b.) serves for branding, showing Disney doing some form of content diversity, and c.) will be very popular on Home Video. That's why marketing was small - they knew there wasn't much money to make. Disney probably didn't even bat an eye at losing maybe 10 million bucks. Grossed 8 million on a 15 million budget. I honestly think Queen of Katwe did exactly what Disney expected. Amongst the usual comic book movie discussion (hah) there's some really interesting insight into why movies make the money they do. The fact that you jumped to that conclusion shows how closeminded you are.Ĭheck out r/boxoffice. I hope you feel like an asshole for assuming that I like the movie only because it stars black people when I have plenty of valid reasons to like the movie. I liked the movie and imagined it was directed by a man like most movies, but then I saw that it was a woman when I watched this roundtable and I thought "oh she's cool". I included that because I was surprised to find out it was directed by a woman. I guess I can't defend why I like that it's directed by a woman of color, but I think Mira Nair is smart and talented.I like that it has African musicians because it's good music and it makes me discover sounds I wouldn't normally hear and because it fits the movie really well.I like that it's filmed in Uganda because it shows what Kampala actually looks like, which makes it informative and more realistic, and because they framed it beautifully with lots of natural locations.I'm actually interested to hear about Africa and I found that story particularly compelling and the characters refreshing. I like that it's about ordinary yet extraordinary African people for the reason above.I like it when a movie makes me see something I don't usually see because I feel like it widens my understanding of the world a little bit. It's not "good because it has black people", it's good (or at least interesting to me) because it's set in a country/continent that I know little about and I like it when a movie "teaches" me about something.