facebook icon facebook icon facebook icon
  • About
  • ADS
  • Masthead
    • Editorial Board
  • Subscribe
The Wellesley News -
  • News
    • Wellesley Students Comment on Recent State Elections
      Wellesley Students Comment on Recent State Elections
    • Still No Student Bursar: It’s Not Just a Money Problem
      Still No Student Bursar: It’s Not Just a Money Problem
    • Students question administration’s comments on demonstration policy
      Students question administration’s comments on demonstration policy
    • Senate Report
    • News in Brief
  • Features
    • Professor Selwyn Cudjoe Set To Retire After 38 Years At Wellesley: Africana Studies department hosts lecture series in his honor
      Professor Selwyn Cudjoe Set To Retire After 38 Years At Wellesley: Africana Studies department hosts lecture series in his honor
    • Lines and Light: Vera Pavlova’s Poetry in “The Line of Contact”
      Lines and Light: Vera Pavlova’s Poetry in “The Line of Contact”
    • Tanner Conference: A look into STEM Students Summer Experiences
      Tanner Conference: A look into STEM Students Summer Experiences
  • Opinions
    • We don’t all have to be doctors
      We don’t all have to be doctors
    • Letter to the Editor: do you condemn Israel?
      Letter to the Editor: do you condemn Israel?
    • Arabs and Muslims will speak for ourselves
      Arabs and Muslims will speak for ourselves
    • Editorials
    • Letters to Editors
  • Arts
    • Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra celebrates 20th anniversary
      Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra celebrates 20th anniversary
    • Marvel does “Loki” justice with its second season.
      Marvel does “Loki” justice with its second season.
    • SAG-AFTRA reaches tentative deal with studios
      SAG-AFTRA reaches tentative deal with studios
  • Sports
    • The Wellesley Blue is Off to a Powerful Winter Season
      The Wellesley Blue is Off to a Powerful Winter Season
    • Bringing Back the Wellesley College 50 list!
      Bringing Back the Wellesley College 50 list!
    • Sports Week Cheat Sheet: Top Five Moments
      Sports Week Cheat Sheet: Top Five Moments
  • Multimedia
    • Wellesley Celebrates Flower Sunday 2023
      Wellesley Celebrates Flower Sunday 2023
    • Photo of the Week
      Photo of the Week
    • “Stronger Together” Rally with Chelsea Clinton
      “Stronger Together” Rally with Chelsea Clinton
    • Podcasts
    • Photo Stories
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • How I Transformed My Life Using Kiki and Bouba Theory
      How I Transformed My Life Using Kiki and Bouba Theory
    • America… America has a problem.
      America… America has a problem.
    • A Wellesley Snooze Need to Know: Why Won’t Obama Release his LSAT Scores?
      A Wellesley Snooze Need to Know: Why Won’t Obama Release his LSAT Scores?
  • About
    • Masthead
    • Editorial Board
By Elana Bridges Arts, Arts In The NewsOctober 31, 2017

Mira Nair joins the Wellesley Community to discuss the importance of creating and telling your own stories

Director Mira Nair answered audience questions in Collins Cinema last Friday Photo by Ciara Wardlow '19, Arts Editor

On Friday, Oct. 20, acclaimed director and lmmaker Mira Nair visited campus as a guest of the International Symposium on Education and Gender Equality, which was presented by the Suzy Newhouse Center for Humanities, Sciences Po and the Consulate General of France in Boston. She discussed the Oct. 20 screening of her lm “Queen of Katwe” in Collins Cinema. In addition to the lm that was screened, Nair made mention of other notable lms including “Monsoon Wedding,” “The Namesake,” “Mississippi Masala,” “Vanity Fair” and “Salaam Bombay!” A question and answer session followed the 124-minute screening of the lm.

The lm is based on the real life of Ugandan chess champion Phiona Mutesi, who discovers her love of chess through Robert Katende, a missionary who teaches the local children to play. Set in Kampala, Uganda, Mutesi’s success is astonishing as she manages hunger, lack of home stability, womanhood and illiteracy all while competing and defeating opponents in competitive chess tournaments and at the young age of 11. But her accomplishments are not without setbacks. Mutesi’s obstacles start starting important conversations about the burdening cycle of poverty and the instability that comes along with it. A costly injury to her brother leaves her and her family on the streets, forcing Mutesi to quit chess and focus on selling maize to earn money. Katende urges Mutesi to continue to pursue her abilities, and after he convinces her mother of Mutesi’s gift, she goes on to compete and win international acclaim.

“Queen of Katwe” is a an emotional rollercoaster to say the least. The cast includes Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’O playing Phiona’s mother, British-Nigerian actor David Oyelowo portraying the chess coach and community dance performers playing the roles of young Ugandan children.

“Queen of Katwe” is a story of perseverance, failure, passion for learning, uncertainty and community. It is through
the collaborative efforts of the Ugandanvillage that Mutesi and her teammates are able to travel and compete in chess tournaments. Katende also stresses the importance of persisting after failure. “Losing does not make you a failure,” he tells Mutesi, prompting her to find motivation to continue to compete after a loss. In addition, the lm deals with familial sacrifices: Mutesi’s mother must eventually let go of her fear that after being exposed to a new, seemingly better life Phiona will be interested only in the pursuit of only material things. Phiona’s story is a compelling narrative that depicts the raw emotional tribulations of a young girl in poverty and how, through education and a passion for learning, she is able to triumph.

Following the screening, Suzy Newhouse Center Director and French and francophone studies Professor Anjali Prabhu introduced Nair and began the discussion of “Queen of Katwe” and Nair’s career as a lmmaker. Questions were later prompted by audience members, generating important dialogue surrounding diversity, girls’ education and the importance of storytelling.

Born and raised in Rourkela, India, Nair is an Indian-American lmmaker who holds international residences in Uganda, India and New York. She attributes to her dedication to telling unique stories in her films to her multinational identity.

After studying sociology at Delhi University, she left India at the age of 19 to pursue higher education at Harvard University, where she originally studied acting before becoming a filmmaker. She noted the frustration she felt about the individualistic quality of theater and recollected that “ films was a more powerful and populist tool” to find ways to tell stories.

Nair went on to assert that diversity in storytelling is critical not only to her personal convictions but also inspiring future generations of filmmakers. She recalled her first experience seeing a lm by an Indian filmmaker: “Nothing is more powerful than seeing your context, your story on the screen.”

When asked about her background in sociology and how that adds to her prowess as a director, Nair suggested that she was attracted to filmmaking as a medium to study society. Speaking about documentary films, she noted “the truth is stronger than fiction” in its rawness, and despite the infuriating and unequal nature of life, “the will to live is powerful.”

Nair also responded to questions about how she modulates controversial issues into her feel-good films such as “Queen of Katwe” and how she finds her own voice. She made a point to mention that aspiring filmmakers should not be confused by the temptation of the lm industry and explained that to “preserve one’s one voice is a skill.” She agreed that it is a hard skill to learn, but it is necessary. While this was not a documentary lm, Nair explained that she had to “keep the spine of the story true” because the story she tells is a universally important one about the power of education for girls.

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleGucci Mane and Keyshia Ka’oir wedding continues the harmful “ride or die” narrative
Next article“Loving Vincent” inspires audiences to reinvestigate the life and death of Vincent Van Gogh

You may also like

Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra celebrates 20th anniversary

Marvel does “Loki” justice with its second season.

SAG-AFTRA reaches tentative deal with studios

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Wellesley News

    SECTIONS

  • News
  • Features
  • Opinions
  • Arts
  • Sports
  • Multimedia
  • Projects
  • About

    ABOUT

  • Contact
  • Join the News
  • Masthead
  • Editorial Board

    RESOURCES

  • Advertising
  • Submission
  • Subscribe

    CONTACT US

  • Contact
COPYRIGHT © 2023 THE WELLESLEY NEWS