George Amponsah is a critically-acclaimed director who has made numerous documentaries, including features such as The Fighting Spirit (2007), about boxers from Ghana in pursuit of the American dream, and The Importance of Being Elegant (2004), about a bizarre cult of fashion led by the flamboyant Congolese singer Papa Wemba. His work has been featured at numerous international film festivals. Amponsah became an obsessive maker of super 8 movies while at Art College in the early nineties. It was clear to him that he could explore questions about identity through filmmaking. This culminated in a post-graduate film that won him a scholarship to attend the documentary course at Britain’s National Film and Television School. Since then, George has won prestigious awards for his film work from the Post Office, the BBC, Kodak and The Royal Television Society, and he has worked with some of Britain’s most prolific television production companies. While making short films for the web and developing new feature films, George continued to work as a tutor with young people, using digital video as a tool with which to express views from outside the mainstream.
Boxing is show business with blood—a tough sport, which has always found its top competitors from the poorest neighborhoods. Bukom, a tiny district in Ghana’s capital city of Accra, is one such locale. Grounded in a long cultural tradition of wrestling that over the years developed into boxing, the tiny fishing village trains young people to fight—and win. Bukom has produced up to five percent of the world’s champion and Olympic medal boxers. The Fighting Spirit tells the story of three fighters from Bukom—two men and a woman—as they battle their way to the glittering rings of Europe and America to compete for the biggest prizes in the business. Viewers watch the athletes fight for respect and reward for their tribe and their home, and witness their triumphs and defeats in and out of the ring. (Source: http://afropop.tv/about-the-filmmakers-season-2/)
Check out the official website for the film here.
Official FB event for the screening: https://www.facebook.com/events/537186539693303/
