THE TOURNAMENT / Le Tournoi

 

International Premiere • Drama • France, 2015

DCP • 2.35 • Dolby 5.1 • Color • 83 min

Directed by: Élodie Namer

Written by: Élodie Namer

Cinematography: Julien Poupard

Film Editing: Julien Ouvrard, Nicolas Desmaison

Original Score: Dombrance

Produced by: Lola Gans (24 Mai Production)

Coproduced by: France 2 Cinema

Cast: Michelangelo Passaniti (Cal), Lou de Laâge (Lou), Magne-Håvard Brekke (Viktor), Adam Corbier (Max) 

International Sales: mk2

 

In this coming-of-age drama set in the world of chess, Cal Fournier is competing in the Grand International Chess Open in Budapest. At twenty-two, Cal is an old hand at this – he and his coach Viktor have their methods down to a routine. To compete at this level requires fanatical single-mindedness. Not a problem for Cal, who has always lived in his head. In fact, Cal hardly ever leaves the hotels in which the tournaments are staged, and he has the social skills one might expect from such a cloistered life. Even his clothes are tourist merch from airport boutiques. By day, Cal competes, sometimes playing ten opponents at once. By night, he and his girlfriend Lou (Jappeloup’s Lou de Laâge, COLCOA 2013) join his entourage for gambling in the hotel’s casino. Though it’s a brutal tournament, Cal is expected to win as usual. But his system is about to be put in check by an unorthodox 11 year-old Hungarian boy named Max. To defeat this impudent little prodigy, Cal will be forced to re-evaluate more than his game strategy.

 

COLCOA is pleased to present the International Premiere of the debut feature of Élodie Namer. The writer/director was inspired to write her screenplay soon after the chess bug bit her. In fact, the everyday life of a professional player depicted in her film – the long hours, the intense pressure, the exaltation of victory, and even the betting to let off steam in the evening – is drawn from personal experience. In 2009, Namer co-created the French television comedy series Second Chance. Since then, she has written episodes for numerous televisions series, ranging from comedies to westerns.