FAHIM - THE LITTLE CHESS PRINCE

FAHIM

By Pierre-François MARTIN-LAVAL

NJUTAFILMS - as DISTR Theatrical, TV, DVD-video, VOD, SWEDEN

Family - Post-Production 2019

A modern fairytale of a refugee child taking the chess world by storm.

    • Year of production
    • 2019
    • Genres
    • Family
    • Countries
    • FRANCE
    • Languages
    • FRENCH
    • Duration
    • 110 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Pierre-François MARTIN-LAVAL
    • Writer(s)
    • Philippe ELNO, Pierre-François MARTIN-LAVAL, Thibault VANHULLE
    • Producer(s)
    • Patrick GODEAU (Waiting For Cinema)
    • Synopsis
    • Forced to flee his native Bangladesh, eight year-old chess prodigy Fahim arrives in Paris with his father. Refused asylum, as illegal immigrants they spiral downwards into homelessness and desperation.

      By a stroke of luck, Fahim is introduced to one of France’s top chess coaches, Sylvain (real name: Xavier Parmentier), who tutors him and gives him a sense of purpose - his struggles on the chessboard mirroring both his victories and his crushing defeats in his battle for a normal life.

      Fahim then rises through local and national tournaments only to be crowned France’s Under-12 Chess Champion in 2012.

      The film tells the story of a child who learns to live without his mother and without his father, far from home, from his roots and his language. Fahim’s tale is not only a moving account of the grim realities that underlie a supposedly caring society, but also a
      heartwarming testimony to a father’s determination, the kindness of strangers, and one small boy’s courageous will to succeed.