The Glowing Edge

Tag: documentary

  • Help Fund Indian Women’s Boxing Film Featuring Olympian Mary Kom

    Help Fund Indian Women’s Boxing Film Featuring Olympian Mary Kom

    Five time World Champion boxer Mary Kom may be India’s best hope for Olympic gold at the 2012 Games. Ameesha Joshi wants to help tell her story.

    Ameesha is one of two documentary filmmakers who has been following the Indian women’s boxing team for 6 years now. Their story will end in just a few days at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where Mary Kom could be the first Indian woman ever to go home with the gold.

    Co-director and Cinematographer Anna Sarkissian is in Liverpool right now with Mary Kom for her final days of training.

    Be a part of Olympic Boxing history

    Joshi and Sarkissian have launched an online campaign through the crowdfunding site Indiegogo to help raise money to pay for post-production for their film, and as of today have only two weeks remaining in which to raise $17,500.

    The 35-strong Indian women’s national boxing team trains year-round, six days a week in blistering heat and heavy downpours. As you can imagine, women’s boxing is neither popular nor widely accepted in India, where many women are pressured to marry and abandon their career aspirations.

    With This Ring

    The film Ameesha and Sarkissian are making is called With This Ring, and it goes inside the training camps and into the boxers’ lives as they push their bodies to the limit and strive to balance their responsibilities as dutiful daughters, wives, and as in Mary Kom’s case, mothers.

    “The topic fascinated us for many reasons,” said Joshi, co-director of the film. “India has some of the best women boxers in the world. They have risen to the top from very humble circumstances.”

    “Although I grew up in Canada, my parents emigrated from India and I’m aware of the cultural expectations and could imagine some of the criticism these woman would’ve faced. We knew we had found some extraordinary trailblazers and their inspirational stories needed to be shared.”

    Cinematographer and co-director Sarkissian expressed similar thoughts. “I’ve always been really interested in stories that would otherwise be overlooked or forgotten,” she commented.

    “As for what intrigues me about these women: they are so unique, and yet unassuming. For a long time, they didn’t really understand why we were interested in filming them. Despite a few perks, they live tough lives, and train in difficult conditions to pursue a sport that many might consider laughable. I have profound respect for the amount of discipline, physical and mental strength that boxing requires and am in awe of their dedication.”

    When the two started this project six years ago, several of these Indian women were ranked #1 in the world – and yet they were completely unknown.

    Now Mary Kom is leading the charge to the London 2012 Games in the hopes of bringing home gold and gaining the respect of her fellow Indians.

    And maybe even changing the way society thinks about women’s boxing.

  • A Boxing ‘Ohana

    A Boxing ‘Ohana

    Sasha Parulis didn’t go looking to create a documentary; instead the project seemed to find her.

    While on vacation in Hawaii, Sasha recognized Sonny Westbrook (pictured with Sasha, above) as a boxing coach and cast member of the television reality series, “Dog the Bounty Hunter.” She introduced herself and as they communicated over the next few months, she became more intrigued with his mentoring relationship with the kids at his gym, The Kona Boxing Club in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. She began to believe his story would make a great documentary.

    I interviewed Sasha recently about her undertaking.

    No, she’s not a boxer. And yet she found, as she learned more of the story that the Kona Boxing Club has to tell, that boxing incorporates many things she is passionate about. Like the heart, dedication and the determination of the fighters.

    “I also love what the sport and boxing coaches do for kids. Any kid, in any neighborhood, in any country, can walk into a local boxing gym and transform his or her life. Their attitude and life direction can take a complete turn.”

    Below you can take a look at some of her rough footage. It’s nothing like what you would see in a finished documentary, more like a few snapshots of the people and the place that have captured her imagination and her heart…

    In Hawaii, ‘ohana means family. Parulis hopes her film will draw more young people, particularly at-risk youth, into neighborhood boxing gyms, where they can find mentors and a community of support — not just boxing support, but life direction. An ‘ohana of sorts.

    And gentle giant Sonny Westbrook makes a compelling draw. A Samoan native, and one of eleven siblings who emigrated with the family to Hawaii, Sonny is part of a strong boxing heritage. His father, a South Seas heavyweight champion, once boxed for a bag of groceries to feed his family. Sonny and nine of his brothers have also followed their father into the sport.

    Sonny started boxing at age 8 and went on to compete in 4 national Golden Glove championships, traveling all over the world with his sport. He has gone on to train hundreds of fighters, including Kona native and former MMA EliteXC Lightweight World Champion and professional boxer, KJ Noons.

    But it’s in the gym every day, working with the young people of the island, that Sonny really shines. He is a “father” on Kona, helping his young fighters face and triumph over the challenges of family hardships, gang-related activities, and the widespread methamphetamine use that is tearing so many Hawaiian communities apart.

    “It is my hope for the film A Boxing ‘Ohana to be screened as an educational outreach tool for in-school and after-school programs, community organizations, drug rehab programs and/or juvenile halls, giving it an educational goal beyond just a screening,” Parulis notes.

    With the film currently in developmental stages, she’s staying busy.

    She is also in the process of partnering up with the Bronx-based non-profit, Youth Survival Project. In fact, she’s been hard at work encouraging everyone she encounters to support the film by joining A Boxing ‘Ohana’s Facebook page and Twitter account. You can read more about the project on A Boxing ‘Ohana’s website as well.