Film description —Tilson Allen-Merry

Magnus Carlsen is widely known as the ‘Mozart of Chess’ because, unlike many chess grandmasters, he not only possesses an innate ability and a remarkable memory, but he blends those attributes with unrivaled creativity and intuition. Memorized moves and calculated probabilities can carry a chess player extremely far. But Magnus’ journey eventually proves that there can be other elements of the game, ones that are impossible to measure or calculate.

From a young age Magnus Carlsen had aspirations of becoming a champion chess player. While many players seek out an intensely rigid environment to hone their skills, Magnus’ brilliance shines brightest when surrounded by his loving and supportive family. Through an extensive amount of archival footage and home movies, director Benjamin Ree reveals this young man’s unusual and rapid trajectory to the pinnacle of the chess world. This film allows the audience to not only peek inside this isolated community but also witness the maturation of a modern genius.

The film "Magnus" will now premiere at the prestigious TriBeCa festival in New York. It is a festival that was started in 2002 by, among others, Robert De Niro, in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The film is the first Norwegian cinema documentary that makes its world premiere at this festival. More than 6,000 contributions were submitted, and "Magnus" was selected as one of 101 films altogether.

Film information: Production year: 2016, Length: 76 minutes, Language: English, Norwegian. Director: Benjamin Ree, Screenwriter: Linn-Jeanethe Kyed, Benjamin Ree, Producer: Sigurd Mikal Karoliussen, Editor: Perry Eriksen, Martin Stoltz, Cinematographer: Magnus Flåto, Benjamin Ree, Øyvind Asbjørnsen, Executive Producer: Aage Aaberge, Øyvind Asbjørnsen, Composer: Uno Helmersson, Co-Producer: VG TV, Main Island Production, Nordisk Film, Cast: Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand.

Director Benjamin Ree is a Norwegian documentary filmmaker. He studied journalism at the Oslo University College and moved on to work as a journalist for Reuters and freelance for BBC. A few years later he started making award winning short documentaries, which premiered at IDFA and Chicago International Children's Film Festival.

You can read more about Benjamin (above with Magnus) in this Time to Riot blog

The film will be screening in the Regal Cinemas in Battery Park 11, Manhattan, NYC.

Date and time of screenings: Thursday April 14, 9:15 p.m. (11-6), Sunday April 17, 8:00 p.m. (11-3), Tuesday April 19, 3:15 p.m. (11-6), Saturday April 23, 4:30 p.m. (11-9) – brackets indicate cinema number. The tickets can be purchased from March 29 at Tribeca Film Festival's web page.

Magnus – the chess movie

Magnus Carlsen - New Chess Movie 2016 – Teaser Trailer

Also read: ScreenDaily: TrustNordisk moves on chess champion doc 'Magnus'
Scandinavian sales agent TrustNordisk has picked up worldwide rights to a documentary about young world chess champion Magnus Carlsen. Magnus has been compiled from more than 500 hours of footage shot over a decade, from when a 13-year-old Carlsen was being bullied by his classmates in Norway for his obsession with chess to becoming world champion and the highest ranked player of all time aged 22.