Heading to Toronto

Monsoon Wedding and Namesake fame director Mira Nair’s latest venture The Queen Of Katwe has made it to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) line-up, this year.

This movie is a long-awaited biopic of Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi.

Mutesi is played by 12 Years a Slave Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o. This year, TIFF will also have seven of its 19 galas, directed by female filmmakers, which has been a record in the festival.

This year, in addition to The Queen Of Katwe, the female-directed films in the high-profile galas section include the French director Rebecca Zlotowski’s Planetarium, Bronwen Hughes’ The Journey Is the Destination, Kelly Fremon’s The Edge of Seventeen. In the special-presentations category, Susan Johnson’s teen-prodigy dramedy Carrie Pilby will make its world premiere. —ANI