THE POLGAR VARIANT

Dir. Yossi Aviram (68min, Israel/Hungary, 2014)
Hungarian, English and Hebrew with English Subtitles
Documentary
Mid-Atlantic Premiere

The extraordinary story of three Hungarian-Jewish sisters who were raised in 1970s Communist Budapest to be chess masters. The Polgár sisters did not choose to become the heroines of this story. It was their father, who, driven by his educational vision, determined their destiny before they were even born.

László Polgár believed that “geniuses are made, not born,” and he set out to prove it. The canvas he chose was his three daughters. The medium he chose was chess. No kindergarten, no school… Three girls, isolated from the normal world of kids, studied and practiced chess – with remarkable results.

Co-presented by The Documentary Center at GWU, Silver Knights Chess, Chess Challenge in DC, and GW Feminist Student Union.

Subject Susan Polgar will be joining us for a Q&A.

After the Q&A, join us for chess lessons, games and a simul-match!

Yossi Aviram was born in Jerusalem, in 1971. A graduate from the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School of Jerusalem, Yossi Aviram splits his career between his work as a director of photography and his own films. In 1998, Year of Israel in France, he participated in a cultural exchange with the well-known French film school, La fémis.

During the four weeks he spent in Paris, he directed his second short film, Anna. After several documentaries, including Paris Return, broadcast on Arte in March 2010. Last year’s The Dune is his first feature film.