NEW YORK: Alicia Keys has always been a supporter of female empowerment, so when the singer watched the new film “Queen of Katwe” and saw its female lead, Phiona Mutesi, win best male chess player, she was overjoyed.
“That was like so good and she played against all these boys because there wasn’t anybody else she could play against, and she was the best of all,” Keys, who has won 15 Grammys, said. “I think that was really, really powerful.”
It was one of the many scenes in the film starring Lupita Nyong’O that inspired the piano-playing star to write “Back to Life,” a song about hope and perseverance that plays at the movie’s end.
“As far as we feel like we’ve come — and as far as we’ve come, we definitely have made strides forward — it’s such an important reminder to know that when given opportunity, young people, especially girls, really flourish,” Keys said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s just that simple.”
“Queen of Katwe,” which opened last week, stars Madina Nalwanga as a gifted chess player from the Katwe slums in Kampala, Uganda, who reaches new heights in the international chess world. Nyong’O plays the role of her mother and David Oyelowo is her optimistic and passionate chess coach. The true story was directed by Mira Nair.
“That was like so good and she played against all these boys because there wasn’t anybody else she could play against, and she was the best of all,” Keys, who has won 15 Grammys, said. “I think that was really, really powerful.”
It was one of the many scenes in the film starring Lupita Nyong’O that inspired the piano-playing star to write “Back to Life,” a song about hope and perseverance that plays at the movie’s end.
“As far as we feel like we’ve come — and as far as we’ve come, we definitely have made strides forward — it’s such an important reminder to know that when given opportunity, young people, especially girls, really flourish,” Keys said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s just that simple.”
“Queen of Katwe,” which opened last week, stars Madina Nalwanga as a gifted chess player from the Katwe slums in Kampala, Uganda, who reaches new heights in the international chess world. Nyong’O plays the role of her mother and David Oyelowo is her optimistic and passionate chess coach. The true story was directed by Mira Nair.
