The Knight Out is a nine-minute independent short film released in 2020, written and directed by Sri Lankan filmmaker Akash Sunethkumara. Blending action, fantasy and music, it turns an ordinary café encounter into a stylised confrontation played out across a chessboard.
Not affiliated with the filmmakers. This is an independent editorial reference page. Streamixo is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the cast, crew or producers of this film, and does not own, distribute or stream this title. Factual details are sourced from the film’s public listing on The Movie Database.
Synopsis
As published by the filmmakers: when a beautiful stranger enters the café, two men decide to battle it out on a chessboard in order to decide who gets to approach her.
The premise is deliberately compact. Rather than staging a conventional rivalry, the film externalises the contest as a game — a framing that lets a very short runtime carry a complete dramatic arc. The tagline the production used, “What would you battle for?”, points at the same idea: the chess match is the vehicle, not the subject.
Key details
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Title | The Knight Out |
| Year | 2020 |
| Runtime | 9 minutes |
| Genres | Action, Fantasy, Music |
| Original language | English |
| Director | Akash Sunethkumara |
| Writer | Akash Sunethkumara |
| Tagline | “What would you battle for?” |
Cast
- Akash Sunethkumara — Black King
- Dilshan Fonseka — White King
- Romane Dananjani — Gold Queen
- Jana Santiago
- Gayani Kaushalya Perera
The character names — Black King, White King, Gold Queen — map the cast directly onto chess pieces, which is unusual for a live-action short and signals how literally the film commits to its central conceit.
Why the format matters
A nine-minute runtime places The Knight Out firmly in short-film territory, a format where festivals and online distribution, rather than theatrical release, are the norm. Listing three genres across action, fantasy and music in under ten minutes suggests a film built around sequence and rhythm more than dialogue — an approach that suits productions working without studio budgets.
It was the earliest of the director’s titles listed publicly, preceding Temporal (2022) and Teddy (2023), both of which move toward longer runtimes and heavier dramatic material.
Where to watch
Availability for independent short films changes frequently and is controlled entirely by the rights holders. This film is not part of the Streamixo catalogue. For current, authoritative information, consult the film’s TMDB listing or the filmmakers’ own channels.
About this section
This page belongs to our independent cinema reference, a small editorial series documenting short films and the people who make them.
Separately, Streamixo operates an IPTV subscription service in France offering live channels and on-demand films and series. It is unrelated to the productions covered here. If that is what brought you, you can visit the Streamixo homepage.