AN AFRICAN QUEEN
Carls believes, an audience more likely to “actually go out afterwards and make a difference in the world.” Mira Nair was always a leading choice to direct, but when Carls initially reached out, she was in the process of making The Reluctant Fundamentalist. But given some time and another draft of the script, Nair was able to come on board, along with her longtime producing partner, Lydia Dean Pilcher. The collaboration goes back 25 years, to 1991’s Mississippi Masala; Queen of Katwe marks their 11th picture together. Pilcher feels like she and Nair agree on “every level of sensibility and aesthetic.” Queen of Katwe has a special significance given that it allows them to return to Uganda, a country in which they’ve done a great deal of work, particularly with Naisha, the film school they helped to found. For Pilcher, Queen of Katwe also represented a break from the endless hustle of pulling together independent films, a project that allows her and
“IT’S A GREAT PRIVILEGE TO CRAFT STORIES AND TO KNOW THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE SOME IMPACT OR FORGE A GREATER CONNECTION.”
Above: Director Mira Nair (seated) on the set of Queen of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda Left: Producers Lydia Dean Pilcher (left) and John Carls (right) discuss the shoot with production executive Tendo Nagenda.
Nair to make “the kind of film that we always make, but with the support of a studio.” Katwe’s Africa-based story might be a tricky sell domestically, but Pilcher’s production company Cine Mosaic has always had a firm commitment to producing films for the global marketplace. After all, we’re now in an age where, as she observes, the international box office is substantially larger than the domestic. Pilcher believes in the story’s appeal to groups who don’t normally see themselves represented in films, even as she appreciates its importance for “Disney to keep their brand relevant” in the global age. The opportunity to “see more stories about other cultures in very authentic, relatable ways” is one of the most fundamental means we have of building inter-cultural understanding. Studios are gradually coming to see the value of these stories and the necessity of telling them authentically. For a major studio film, Queen of Katwe relies to an unusual degree on unfamiliar talent and production values, taking place entirely in Africa (save for a brief sojourn to Russia) and featuring a cast composed almost entirely of actors of color. Phiona was the key casting, as the filmmakers searched all over Africa and the U.K., seeing hundreds of girls and eventually choosing Madina Nalwanga. Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo fell into place shortly thereafter, with the rest of the players cast in Uganda and quickly run through a workshop to bring them up to speed for the challenge of working on a major studio film. Pilcher hopes the film provides a transformative experience for young girls, who don’t often see themselves in these pictures, to lead the way. She told me about a screening she’d arranged for the crew of her current project, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for HBO, to which many of them brought their young children. One girl, of elementary- school age, particularly stood out to her. “She was just glued to the screen,” she recalls. When Pilcher approached the girl’s mother afterwards and asked about her daughter’s enraptured response, her mother replied, “These girls are not used to seeing themselves on the big screen.” Even beyond the faces that are represented, it’s the voices the film allows us to hear. Queen of Katwe enables Pilcher to continue to champion “female storytelling” as she
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