Director Nacho G. Velilla has presented his new film 'Menudas Piezas' in the Official Section Out of Competition, which tells a story of triumph inspired by a real case with chess as the driving force.

Velilla has brought the true story of Enrique Sánchez to the big screen, the retired teacher who was in charge of leading a group of students from a school in a humble Zaragoza neighbourhood to win the Spanish Chess Championship. In the feature film, the main character of the story is a woman, played by Alexandra Jiménez.

At a press conference, Velilla explained that this story of triumph shows the value of teachers and education for ensuring an equal society. He was always clear that he wanted to be faithful to the real story because they did not want to diverge from the essence of the professor who is the inspiration behind the script, written by himself together with David S. Olivas and Marta Sánchez.

This script is conveyed by chess as a key piece that adopts a metaphorical meaning. 'With this game, you learn to develop empathy because you need to know what the opposing player is doing at all times. You need to put yourself in their mind. And you can put that empathy into practice in all areas of your life and in any other discipline,' he argued.

The protagonist, Alexandra Jiménez, referred to her character –Candela- as a character within another character, that is, a woman who has always been a working-class girl determined to become a lady of high society. When she finally does just that, her unexpected divorce becomes a turning point for her to embark on the path back to her previous life. This return gives the character a duality. The students are responsible for ensuring that her character connects with the person she really is, instead of trying to be someone she’s not. After the divorce, she loses her job at an elite school and has to return to the humble neighbourhood where she comes from, ask her father and sister for help and work at her humble childhood school.

Her new students struggle to integrate and she feels surrounded by mediocrity. However, later and thanks to them you will learn that the important thing is not who you were yesterday, but who you are today; that a group of losers for whom no one gives a damn can end up being champions of Spain. 'In chess, as in life, it doesn't matter if you are a king or a pawn because at the end of the game, both have the same fate.'

She is accompanied in the cast by actors with impressive track records, including María Adanez, Francesc Orella, Luis Callejo, Miguel Rellán, Alain Hernández and José Manuel Poga, as well as a group of new actors making their debut in the feature film, such as Rocío Velayos , Pablo Louazel, Verónica Senra, Kiko Bena and Tuoxin Qiu. Filming took place in various locations in the communities of Madrid and Aragón.

Orella, who plays the father of the main character, has highlighted that the kids and chess are the driving force to end the conflictive relationship they have and to re-emerge the love between father and daughter. For his part, Bena has confessed that he approached filming with fear of working with actors that he had seen on TV since he was little. For this reason, he saw this work as a challenge with great responsibility to be faithful and loyal to the story of the real-life characters.

Another of the actors, Pablo Louazel, revealed that he channelled his childhood self, trying to capture in his character the fear he experienced when he was little in front of people of authority.

Menudas Piezas is a production of Telecinco Cinema, Felicitas Media, Menudas Pieces AIE and Lightbox Animation Studios and its premiere is scheduled in cinemas in Spain on the 12^th of April.