Pawn (2025)

The Lucena Position

A chess game between two brothers gets ugly.

5150 Elm's Way

Yannick moves to a small, quiet town to study cinema. One day when he fell off his bike, he knocked at the door of the Beaulieu residence so he could clean the blood off his hands. But Jacques Beaulieu and his family had other plans for Yannick. Beaulieu is a righteous psychopath and fanatic chess player who wants to rid the world of evil. And even though Ian has done nothing wrong, he is beaten, tortured and tormented before Beaulieu makes him an offer: win at chess and he is free to go. And so Ian is now a pawn in Beaulieu 's game. A game in which he will either lose his mind or his life.

The Right to Live

A man with a broken back dies after his wife has an affair with his brother.

The Dark Horse

One-time Maori speed-chess champ, Genesis Potini, lives with a bi-polar disorder and must overcome prejudice and violence in the battle to save his struggling chess club, his family and ultimately, himself.

En passant

Andor is a young chess player, who even calls his pet turtle Kasparov. “Do you think I will succeed? - the boy asks her before the decisive tournament. "If I win, he will never come back." Who is Andor talking about and why is he either afraid of this return, or wants it?

Europa

Just after World War II, an American takes a railway job in Germany, but finds his position politically sensitive with various people trying to use him.

Searching for Bobby Fischer

A seven-year-old chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.

Fresh

Death and violence anger twelve year old drug courier Fresh, who sets his rival employers against each other.

Geri's Game

An aging codger named Geri plays a daylong game of chess in the park against himself. Somehow, he begins losing to his livelier opponent. But just when the game's nearly over, Geri manages to turn the tables.

Keeper of the Flame

Famed reporter Stephen O'Malley travels to a small town to investigate the death of a national hero.

Beyond the Board

Beyond the Board draws parallels between life and chess, showing how life is like a game where every move we make can lead to a win, a loss, or a lesson. Through quiet moments and daily struggles, the film connects the strategy of the game to the choices we face in real life.

Critical Thinking

Based on a true story from 1998, five Latino and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the National Chess Championship under the guidance of their unconventional but inspirational teacher.

Stalag 17

After two American prisoners are killed by guards in the act of escaping from a German POW camp in World War II, barracks black marketeer J.J. Sefton is suspected of being an informer.

The Seventh Seal

When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.

Queen to Play

Hélène, a housekeeper at a ritzy hotel in Corsica, is devoted to her family but lacks any passion in her own life. When she sees a handsome couple play a passionate game of chess, she becomes inspired to play herself. Hélène's working-class husband and spoiled daughter are soon bewildered by her obsession with chess. They also grow suspicious of Hélène's close relationship with Dr. Kröger, her eccentric American expat tutor.

The Luzhin Defence

Based upon the novel by Vladimir Nabokov, a chess grandmaster travels to Italy in the 1920s to play in a tournament and falls in love.

Checked

Two adversaries partake in an ancient game, a battle of epic proportions.

Cold Comfort

Dolores has everthing she wants for her birthday: a party, 18 glowing candles, and Stephen, the handsome stranger who's more than a guest. He's a prisoner. COLD COMFORT bristles with the suspense, passion and danger of three people caught up in a madman's game.

The Mystery of Chess Boxing

Evil Chun Shan uses chess boxing and a five-element ninja style to terrorize the martial arts world until he is challenged in a series of battles, then destroyed.

Meeting My Grandad

Elliott, a lonely young man with no family, learns of a deceased grandfather he never knew. Feeling robbed of such a connection, he decides to hire an actor, Frank, to play the role of his Grandad in his daily life.

Queen of Katwe

A young girl overcomes her disadvantaged upbringing in the slums of Uganda to become a Chess master.

Dangerous Moves

During the Cold War, the World Chess Championship clashed complete opposites - personal and political.

The Double 0 Kid

Teenage Lance dreams of being a secret agent when he's suddenly in the middle of an hacker intrigue, which has its sights on an international environmental congress. Lance becomes in possession of a computer access card one of which the hackers are in urgent need of for their operation. Lance begins to play with the hackers, seeing his dream come true.

Evan's Gambit

Two brothers, raised by a chess master, must battle head to head in the world's most competitive chess tournament.

Narkarappor

Based on the game of Chess that delves into the conflicts and confrontations of people between the rich and poor class and high and low strata of society. How does an ordinary boy, from the community of sanitation workers, become a grandmaster?

En Prise

An epic battle between a knight and a pawn is about to start!... Except it doesn't, they're actually chess pieces

The Woman with Red Boots

An elderly millionaire manipulates an avant-garde writer and a happily married man.

Endgame

Since he was 5 yrs old, Jose's abuelita taught him to play chess like his grandfather who was a champion in Mexico. Now as part of the Brownsville school team, Jose has the chance to use his skills and for once in his life, finds himself in the spotlight, as he tries to help his team make it to the Texas state finals. As their coach, Mr. Alvarado, teaches his students the meaning of perseverance and team effort in the face of adversity, Jose discovers his own strengths and uses them to bring his broken family together.

Sucker

When Chinese-Australian teenager Lawrence cheats at and fails his high-school exams, destroying his dreams of a medical degree, he's banished to the country for the summer. There, he meets wily old conman the Professor and his cynical daughter Sarah, and learns that even the sneakiest scam can't conjure up love. Is it a true story? That might be another of Leung's tricks.

The Nana Project

Follows Helen "Nana" Lewis, a feisty chess master, and her grandsons, as they embark on a road trip to support her rise to state championships.

Martyrs of Striving

When Death wants to bring the plague to Württemberg in 1349, he has not reckoned with the two guard soldiers Volckel and Utz, who engage him in a heated argument about plague ordinances and entry regulations.

Checkmates

Candela, the headmistress of an elite school, after a traumatic divorce, returns to her old high school to lead a group of rebellious students through chess. There she will learn that in chess, and in life, it doesn't matter if you are a king or a pawn, because everyone ends up in the same box.

Horse

At a local chess tournament, estranged brothers Edward and Oliver Abbott reunite after many years apart, harbouring ill will and eagerness to win.

King's Gambit

A surrealist retelling of Caine and Abel in a black void, where a game of chess is taking place. A boxer uses a punching bag while watching from afar.

Knight to D7

Knight To D7' is an extraordinary story of sacrifice that takes place one ordinary afternoon when Dustin Harper visits his longtime friend, Brady Collins. Their ongoing game of chess is brought to a halt when Brady reveals that his continuing battle with cancer has taken a turn for the worst. The only thing harder than saying goodbye will be honoring Brady's last request.

The Chess Players

In the year 1856, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah is the King of Awadh, one of the last independent kingdoms of India. The British intend to control this rich land and send General Outram to clear way for an annexation. Pressure is mounting amidst intrigue and political maneuvers, but the Nawab whiles away his time in pursuit of pleasure and religious practice. The court is of no help either — noblemen Mir and Mirza ignore all duties and spend their days playing endless games of chess. Based on Munshi Premchand's short story of the same name. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2010.

The Island Within

Seymour Tahirbekov is an international chess grandmaster from Azerbaijan. Having won the Candidates Tournament, Seymour earns the right to challenge the defending world champion Skroten Gudmonson in the World Chess Championship match. With a few weeks left before the championship match, Seymour’s psychological and emotional state deteriorates under escalating abuse and pressure to succeed by any means.

Chess Story

1938. While the Nazi troops march into Vienna, the lawyer Josef Bartok hastily tries to escape to the USA with his wife but is arrested by the Gestapo. Bartok remains steadfast and refuses to cooperate with the Gestapo that requires confidential information from him. Thrown into solitary confinement, Bartok is psychologically tormented for months and begins to weaken. However, when he steals an old book about chess it sets him on course to overcome the mental suffering inflicted upon him, until it becomes a dangerous obsession.

Two Knights

After being separated for millennia, Lucifer invites Archangel Michael to a seemingly innocent game of chess, which becomes a deeply personal meditation on the nature of good and evil, the love they once shared and their ultimate place in the world.

Falsettos

Jewish family man Marvin leaves his wife and son for a male lover during the height of the AIDS crisis in 1980s New York City.

China Doll

American pilot Cliff Brandon, fighting the Japanese in China, finds himself the unintentional "owner" of a Chinese housekeeper, Shu-Jen. The unlikely couple falls in love and marries, but not without tragedy brought on by the war.

Glimpses of the Outskirts

In an alternate reality where the decline of nations has given rise to corporatist regimes, any trace of culture or tradition is suppressed by these new leaders to prevent the masses from reclaiming a national identity. However, rebel cells have emerged to counteract this agenda.

The Chess Player

In 1776, an inventor conceals a Polish nobleman in his chess-playing automaton, a machine whose fame leads it to the court of the Russian empress.

Champions

8-year-old Efe goes to İzmir with his family to visit his grandfather, Hakkı. While his popular sister Hira has exciting plans, Efe feels bored and out of place. At the market, he meets Ceren and her friends, skilled chess players who challenge him to a game. Determined to impress Ceren, Efe seeks his grandpa’s help, but Hakkı refuses, thinking Efe will give up like his father once did. Feeling hopeless, Efe discovers the magical White Pawn, who helps him learn chess and build a team.