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“The City Of Human Chess” by Chess.com
October 30, 2023
News,World of Chess
If you’re a chess lover, there’s a new film you must watch!
“The City Of Human Chess” received overwhelming acclaim and was titled the Best Mid-Length Documentary at its U.S. premiere in the renowned DOC LA Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival. Now available on MagellanTV, the documentary narrates the unique tradition of a human chess match, inspired by a story from the 15th century, held in the quaint town of Marostica, Italy.
source – chess.com
This event, happening every two years, has a history spanning over a hundred years. It commemorates the local tale of Lionora, a lady with two admirers. To prevent a fight, both contenders play chess, with the victor winning Lionora’s hand. The tale says Lionora’s father wanted this match to feature real people as chess pieces in the town’s central square, now called Piazza degli Scacchi or Chess Plaza.
This tradition started in 1923 and has since been a symbol of town pride. The presentation has evolved, now featuring over 600 performers including soldiers, entertainers, musicians, and more, all under a display of fireworks and effects. But in 2020, due to the pandemic, it was paused. The documentary captures the town’s effort to bring this tradition back in 2021 within a tight 25-day timeframe.
The film had its global debut at the Not Film Festival in Italy earlier this year. It’s gaining attention and will be showcased at the International Film Festival in The Hague, Netherlands, from November 11-12.
This 22-minute piece is the work of renowned LA filmmaker Cecilia Albertini, supported by Chess.com‘s Creative Head, Chandler Toffa. Albertini labels it a “passion project” and mentions it was shot in just three weeks. She said:
We were a very small crew (a total of four people on set plus three more people in post-production), and this film was truly a labor of love. To have it screened at an important festival in Los Angeles means a lot to us! It’s so much fun to have our country and its traditions represented on screen at such an important festival, and we are so excited for people from all over the world to see it.
source – chess.com
We did have a lot of fun, because all of us in the crew became friends very quickly, which made everything so much easier. It was still hard work, but at least we had fun while working. Also, there was a general vibe of excitement and joy in the city at the time of filming because everyone was gearing up for the event, which made everything feel very magical. Everyone we interviewed was very kind and generous with their time, which definitely helped.
We had a limited time to film this because we were staying in the town for only about three weeks. Therefore, we had to make the most of the time we had, and at the same time, we had to find the story; when we first started filming, we thought that the film was going to have a much more character-driven angle centering on the director of the performance, but as we continued filming, we realized that it was much more about the city itself and that it would be more of an ‘ensemble’ piece. This changed everything, and we had to adapt on the fly.
The City Of Human Chess will be shown at the International Film Festival in The Hague, Netherlands, from November 11 to 12.