12 Best Female Movie Characters Of 2016
3. Phiona Mutesi – Queen Of Katwe
Disney gets female characters right again this year with its
biopic Queen of Katwe, the true-life story of a young girl living in poverty in
a Ugandan slum with her mother and siblings who beats the odds and becomes a
world-class chess prodigy. After Phiona Mutesi (a remarkable screen debut by Madina
Nalwanga) is schooled in the art of chess by missionary worker Robert Katende (David
Oyelowo) she finds she has a knack for it, eventually outplaying her teacher
before rising to the top of her game and playing at the World Chess Olympiad, the
most elite team tournament of the sport.
It’s an uplifting portrait of a plucky and determined girl who sees her unique gift as a potential ticket out of poverty for her and her family, and a story and protagonist made all the more inspiring by their real-life basis.