The Queen: The QUEEN features a special and mysterious ‘film noir’ story line about the struggle between life and death, symbolized by the black Queen chasing the white Queen (Chess play). This is shown in daily flashes from New York City, where the girl lives, with many references to castles (skyscrapers), knights (horses), the Church with the cross of the King, bishops (runners), who keep on running, and of course pawns, represented by the hundreds of bollards along the streets in NYC.
Director: Hugo Teugels
Country: Belgium
Category: Student Short
Runtime: 00:14:00
Starring Jessica Roth (Switzerland) and Evi Stamatiou (Greece), ‘The Queen’ was shot in New York City, based on a project-idea of 5 NYFA students (Sara, Daria, Jessica, Evi, and Hugo) (New York Film Academy, New York City, Directors’ & Actors’ Class – August 2015).
A mysterious encounter in Manhattan unveils that something is not right… A girl meets herself while playing chess at night in a New York City park. This short film asks the question “What if you would meet that one person who can make you realise something is not right..? Or very wrong? Would you believe it?”, The Queen was released at the Cannes Market 2016, started an unbelievable film festival path to India, Indonesia & New York and found a lot of recognition in Los Angeles. It became a huge success, with more than 60 Awards & Nominations not to mention the selections yet.
This is about so much more than a QUEEN and a King in a chess game. Do yourself a favor and invest 14 minutes of your time in this beauty. It just might remind you to be careful next time you leave your home…
After The Festival
