''Queen Sacrifice'' is a 30-minute

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

written and directed by Julian Richards in 1988 whilst he was a film student at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design and is based on his childhood experience as a school boy

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

champion. The cast includes Richard Davies, Duane Phillips, Lisa Climie and the music was composed by

Julian Nott Julian Franklin Keith Nott (born 23 August 1960) is a British composer and conductor, mostly of animated films. He is known for his work on ''Wallace and Gromit'' and ''Peppa Pig''. Biography Nott was born in Marylebone, London, and was edu ...

. The 16mm short was filmed on location in

Trehafod Trehafod is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley between Porth and Pontypridd in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, with a population of 698 in the 2011 census.(The earlier name ''Hafod'' was altered in 1905 to avoid confu ...

in the Rhondda Valley and in Bournemouth.

Synopsis

Davey, a talented young chess player and Wil Bevan, his history teacher are in Bournemouth for the British Chess Championships. When Davey meets up with Helen, a punk girl from London, Wil is faced with the problem of steering his charge through the championship and the trauma of first love.

Awards

Thames Television Award for Best Fiction Film at The BP Expo - British Short Film Festival 1990 ZDF Award for Best Film at Munich International Student Film Festival 1989 Award Of Excellence at Tel Aviv Student Film Festival 1989 Silver Plaque at Chicago International Film Festival 1988 Golden Knight for Best Film at Valletta International Film Festival 1991 Certificate of Merit at Cork Film Festival 1989 Special Jury Commendation, Celtic Media Festival 1988

Distribution

''Queen Sacrifice'' was broadcast by the BBC in '' Screenplay Firsts'' a drama series for debut film-makers. ''Queen Sacrifice'' was also broadcast by the BBC in ''

Scene Scene (from Greek σκηνή ''skēnḗ'') may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Scene (subculture), a youth subculture from the early 2000s characterized by a distinct music and style. Groups and performers * The Scene who reco ...

'', a drama series for schools and colleges. Other broadcasts include ZDF in Germany and ITV in Wales. ''Queen Sacrifice'' is also available as added value on the German DVD release of '' The Last Horror Movie''.

External links

* 1988 films British short films Films about chess {{short-film-stub