5 reasons why Disney's 'Queen of Katwe' is a must-watch for our daughters

This story originally appeared on Babble and is reprinted with permission.

As the father of a 12-year-old daughter, I'm all about finding movies and books that empower girls to reach for their dreams no matter what challenges come their way. This is why I was so excited to catch an early screening of Disney's new film Queen of Katwe, which opens Friday.

The movie is based on the true story of Phiona Mutesi, who never let the fact that she's a girl hold her back from becoming a National Junior Chess Champion - the first female to win the open category in Uganda. She first won the championship when she was just 11 years old back in 2007, and she went on to win the title two more years after that. Her story is made all the more remarkable because of the mountains she had to climb to get there. She had to overcome deep poverty -- never knowing where her next meal would come from or if she would have a roof over her head, an inability to read because her mother couldn't afford to send her to school, and the ridicule of other children who insulted her due to her background.

And yet through all of these challenges -- she prevailed.

THAT is why this movie is a must-watch for my daughter. I want her to be encouraged and emboldened to go wherever her gifts take her, and I don't want her to feel like she can't do something just because she's a girl or problems pop up along the way. As Phiona asks in the film, "Can you do big things from such a small place?" Her story is proof that, YES. Yes you can. As Phiona shows, if a woman hasn't done it before, that simply means there's an opening to be the first. This is an important lesson I want my daughter to take away from this film.

Here are five more reasons why we should all take our daughter to see Queen of Katwe ...

1. Phiona inspires our daughters to never give up.

At any point, Phiona could have given up and almost did. No one would have thought a girl from the slum of Katwe could achieve something like a chess championship anyway. But she persevered and overcame the odds. In the same way, I want my daughter to know that if she has the talent and the skill, circumstance doesn't have to limit her.

2. Phiona encourages our daughters not to be afraid to do the unexpected.

Playing chess for an uneducated girl was unexpected. Her approach to the game was unexpected. Seeing chess as an opportunity out of poverty was unexpected. But Phiona pursued them all anyway. People who succeed don't always take the obvious route; sometimes it takes out-of-the-box thinking to achieve your dreams.

3. Phiona proves that losing doesn't make you a failure.

When Phiona lost her first big competition, it overwhelmed her. She was so close to giving up, but her coach reminded her "what matters is when you reset the pieces and play again." Losing isn't failing, it's an opportunity to learn and do things differently the next time.

4. Phiona refuses to be limited by the narrow-minded attitudes of others.

A boy insults Phiona at a tournament and tells her that her sneak attacks won't work here. "This is not the ghetto." Instead of responding in anger, Phiona simply says, "I don't need to sneak." And wins the game. People are more than their appearances and their circumstances. If we let the attitudes of others dictate our success, we won't know what we can truly accomplish.

5. Phiona shows the importance of never taking the simple things for granted.

In the film, Phiona and two of the other children were competing at a prestigious tournament where lunch was served, and having never had the money for luxuries like ketchup, one of her friends says, "Ketchup is the world's greatest invention." This is a lighthearted reminder that we should never take the simple things for granted.

And as if all of these reasons weren't enough, Queen of Katwe has an AWESOME soundtrack, including a song by Alicia Keys titled "Back to Life." With lyrics like: "I'm just tryna find where I belong / This must be the dark before the dawn / When the place that you were born is not where you belong," this is the perfect kind of girl power anthem I can get behind.

In an interview about the movie, Keys discusses how she was inspired by Phiona, saying: "[She] represents the rose through the concrete. What incredible things can come from that. ... When women are empowered, the world changes." And I couldn't agree more. When we equip our young women with the strength and confidence to go out into the world and achieve the unthinkable, pretty soon it won't be unthinkable anymore. I look into my daughter's eyes and I feel that she has the talent and skill to do whatever she wants.

Right now she wants to be a lawyer, and I could 100% see her becoming one (she argues quite persuasively with me already). She might change her mind as she gets older, as she's only 12 right now, but whatever she decides to become, I want her to have the confidence to pursue it. I know that there are still those who will tell her she can't do something because "she's a girl," or because she's part-Asian, or because of some other ridiculous reason that shouldn't be a factor at all.

That's why these stories are so important. Not only for the things they teach us, but for the hope and inspiration they give to all of our children not to be limited by other people's narrow visions. Yes, the reality is sometimes it's tough to stand against the waves and do the unthinkable. But what would the world be like if we didn't have people who pushed the boundaries?

So when Queen of Katwe hits theaters on Friday, I'll be there with my daughter in tow. While she's excited to see the film because, like Phiona, she loves the challenges of chess, I hope she'll walk out with even more inspiration to achieve what others say is impossible. Because when I look at her, I only see a limitless future of possibility.

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