Fahim

Fahim is eight and plays chess in Bangladesh. His family is under threat; his father takes him to France and applies for asylum. The application is refused. Father and son live in shelters and on the street. Fahim joins a chess club and meets a harsh tempered coach there. The boy rises through tournaments. At the same time a deportation order is issued against the father, and Fahim needs papers to enter the French championship. Pierre-François Martin-Laval directs. Gérard Depardieu plays the coach and Assad Ahmed plays Fahim. The story is real. Fahim Mohammad was born in Bangladesh, took refuge in France and became French champion at a young age; his success halted the deportation and his file was reconsidered. What is interesting is how the two strands are tied: the tournament and the immigration case run on the same calendar. The coach is not played for charm; the man is coarse and hard on the children. The production is built at family film scale; the narrative shows the conditions of living on the street and softens their harshness. Its limit is formula; it follows the line of a success story and the ending goes where it is expected. Who it is for: viewers who like family films from real events and narratives about chess. Who it is not for: the emotional register is high, the narrative is predictable, and the question of immigration is treated thinly.