A Film by Liz Garbus
Available on iTunes 29 August and DVD 5 September
**** The Guardian **** The Sunday Times **** The Financial Times
**** The Sunday Telegraph **** The Mail on Sunday **** The Sunday Express
**** The Daily Mirror **** The Evening Standard **** The Independent Information
**** Empire **** Total Film **** View London **** The Skinny **** Daily Star
“A tragic and compelling story of the rise and fall of a sublime chess genius and 20th century icon. I wept when I saw it.” Nigel Short MBE
“A captivating and moving account of the strangest genius ever to achieve global recognition.” Dominic Lawson
Following on from the hugely successful theatrical run, Dogwoof proudly presents Award-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus’s fascinating portrait of one of the most intriguing and enigmatic figures of the 20th century – World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer.
Available on DVD 5 September, a week after the iTunes release, Bobby Fischer Against the World traces the Grand Master from child prodigy to Cold War hero to controversial recluse. Cutting interviews with Bobby and the people who knew him with footage and news reports, Bobby Fischer Against the World is a mesmerising portrait of the rise and bizarre fall of one of the great American icons. With DVD extras including three short films, selected trailers and “Taking on a Grandmaster” clips; this is a DVD must buy for all chess fans or anyone wanting an insight into troubled genius.
Synopsis:
In 1958, 14-year old Robert James “Bobby” Fischer stunned the chess world by becoming the youngest Grand Master in history, launching a career that would make him a legend. Raised by his mother in Brooklyn, he taught himself to play chess at the age of six and started beating seasoned adult chess players at eight. Throughout the sixties, as his star rose, Bobby would appear regularly on TV and tour the world resoundingly beating all. His career highlight came in 1972 when he played the Russian Grand Master and reigning champion Boris Spassky – a series that was equally tied in with the Cold War as it was with chess. After his victory Bobby became the most famous person on the planet, and his already erratic behaviour began spiralling out of control, turning this genius into an unrecognisable recluse and pariah.
Director Liz Garbus (Emmy Award® winning Ghosts of Abu Ghraib and Academy Award® nominated Street Fight) has crafted a complex film of a complex persona, exploring issues such as whether Bobby was ever equipped to deal with the fame and the pressures of being in the public eye; how his fractious relationship with his mother may have contributed to this; and how he propelled chess to a world-wide phenomenon, boosting it to a level of popularity not seen since. Truly unique, Bobby Fischer still stands as the most famous Grand Master, a life devoured by his obsession with chess and whose death revealed nothing about what eventually destroyed him.
“Chess is like my alter ego” – Bobby Fischer
Dogwoof is the leading UK independent film distributor for documentary and social issue films. Previous successes include Black Gold, widely credited with shifting Starbucks’ position on fairtrade; The Age of Stupid, which led to the 10:10 campaign; The End of the Line, which was largely responsible for Marks & Spencer and Pret a Manger changing their tuna policy; and (in partnership with The Co-operative) the Oscar® Nominated Burma VJ, which on the eve of the 64th Birthday of detained former leader Aung San Sui Kyi, was the first film ever to be screened at No. 10 Downing Street. More recent Dogwoof films include the 2011 Oscar® Nominated documentaries Restrepo, which stands as iTunes highest selling documentary in the UK, and Gasland which exposes the toxic practices of the natural gas industry. As well as achieving great success with these titles, Dogwoof is unique in that it identifies a double bottom-line and sees the potential of film to bring about social change. They recently launched a new website http://popupcinema.net/ and the Ambassadors programme which seeks to empower local entrepreneurs to screen Dogwoof films prior or during the films’ commercial release. For further information please visit www.dogwoof.com
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