While Steve James took a look at the goal of basketball success amidst inner-city high school struggles in Hoop Dreams, director Katie Dellamaggiore dives into chess dreams in a similar environment with her documentary Brooklyn Castle. The film won the audience award at SXSW film festival (where we praised it) and it was quickly snatched up by Scott Rudin to develop a narrative remake for Sony Pictures.
One can see the original film in theaters this fall and now we’ve got the first trailer. Telling the story of the inner-city Brooklyn school I.S. 318, where more than 65% of students are from homes with incomes below the federal poverty level, this uplifting look shows us how a team of students found success in chess tournaments. One can immediately see the push to get a narrative version of this made, but I sincerely can’t wait to check out the true story. See the trailer below via Vulture.
Brooklyn Castle opens on October 19th.