Our film tells the story of Maurice Ashley, the world’s first Black chess grand master.

The film depicts his ascent from rookie to grand master, transporting us back into 1990s Brooklyn as a young Maurice hones his skills in the Black Bear School of Chess. But what begins as a chronicle of the harsh lessons of defeat becomes a journey through the different layers of Maurice’s mind—from the influences that shaped him to the mental turmoil necessary to become a grandmaster. The film concludes with his realization that total immersion in chess, rather than simply winning, was his ultimate goal. As the voiceover says, “You can beat every bear in the forest, but the game is never finished.”

Every detail was crafted to reflect both the era and Maurice’s influences, featuring references to the hip-hop, martial-arts films, video games and street art that shaped his mind as a young man.

Cultural narratives in the US tend to focus on Black success in terms of athleticism and entertainment. With Maurice’s story, we wanted to shed light on a narrative that is too often overlooked—Black intellectual excellence.

Set in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park (in New York City), the film references the Black Bear School, a group of chess players who congregated there.

Throughout, the film contains numerous cultural references to the era. It features a recreation of the bodega from an iconic Biggie Smalls video, graffiti art by ’90s legend CHINO, street posters inspired by the time and wardrobe based on archival photography. The set design also drew inspiration from contemporary artists including Haring and Basquiat.

The film also reflects the intensity and pace of blitz chess and the vernacular of the players themselves who were interviewed as part of the filmmaking process.

In this film, we wanted to capture the aesthetic of Brooklyn in the early 1990s, paired with the classic game of chess.

In the ’90s, bright color and saturation were at their peak. We wanted to ?nd a new way to portray this moment in time: elevated and vibrant with a palette unlike anything Hennessy had done before.

To give this film an aesthetic authentic to the era, we pushed saturated primary colors and warm skin tones and leaned into beautiful shadows in hard afternoon sunlight. After grading, we put the footage through a film print process—cinematically elevating the film to look like the movies we associate with the era.

The end result is a unique blend of textures and tones that help transport the viewer into the place, moment and experience of Maurice’s story.