Dawg Fight

West Perrine, Florida is a ghetto in the Southwest Miami-Dade County, whose population is 73% African-American, with more than a third unemployed, while most of the male population are expected to end up either dead or in prison before their 30^th birthday. It is also home to Dhafir “Dada 5000” Harris, who runs from his mother’s backyard, highly illegal let alone brutal bare knuckle fights which are filmed and put onto youtube, with the fighters hoping that it will provide a gateway into the big leagues of MMA.

Directed by Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys, The U, Broke) who spent two years following Dada who prior to becoming the Don King of Backyard fighting, spent a year as MMA fighter and former fellow backyard fighter Kimbo Slice’s bodyguard and whose manager refused to release footage of Dada’s fight for fear of overshadowing Kimbo’s career. Now he organises fights were the winners fight for as little as $200 and were the fights take place in a homemade 12”x12” ring, with fighters having no protection other than a mouth guard and fights using ending in knockout or a fighter quitting. Unquestionably this is brutal world which Corben chooses to focus his lense on as he fully immerses himself in this ultra-violent world, which from the outside might seem like just senseless violence, but to Dada he see’s it as a way for the fighters to support themselves and help the failing local economy. More so when a large percentage of the fighters have criminal records which prevent them from finding more traditional means of income.

It’s a belief that the local police also seem to share as they continue to allow these the fights to continue as despite the basic setup still manage to attract large crowds of not just fight fans, but also equally fired up groups of mothers and children, who climb the surrounding trees and buildings when they can’t afford the entrance fee. The fights unintentionally perhaps serving as moral boosts for the local community as they get behind their favourite fighters, while strangely unfazed by the brutality of these fights. Meanwhile grudges which might have previously have been settled on the streets are now settled in the ring, while for many the fights give them a purpose to aim for and a reason to stay away from the temptations of crime or gang life which so many fall into.

Despite his imposing size at 6’3”, 270lbs, Dada is very much a gentle giant, that’s of course as long as you’re not facing him in the ring. At the same time he is probably the last person you’d expect to be a community leader, as he commands respect from everyone around him, while proving himself a natural showman with his funny and charismatic attitude, though more surprisingly he isn’t making large amounts of money from these fights as most of the money being made is given back to the fighters, while he is shown even ensuring that an injured fighter gets paid despite not being able to finish his fight.  Of course Dada eventually by the end of the documentary he has to decide if he is to take his own shot at a professional MMA career when it is offered or to stick with his current path of running his backyard fights which appear to benefit everyone bar himself.

While Dada might be the main focus here, as the documentary progresses, several fighters also work their way into the narrative, such as the brash Treon “Trees” Johnson who are all looking to go pro though as we see the threats of the world which they come from remain ever present as seen when two of these fighters are tragically killed.

Shot with a gritty eye for detail, the fights are shot from multiple angles while Corben frequently adds artistic elements to emphases the damage these fighters inflict on each other, while even slowing down the noise of the crowd during some of the more intense moments, so that it almost seems like they are speaking in tongues, as they shout on their encouragement. Even outside of the fights there is a wealth of interesting scenes, from a group of ladies excitedly talking about their favourite fighters, kids singing along to the profanity heavy rap music which soundtracks the events through to Dada and his team giving pep talks to fighters here he manages to truly emerse the viewer inside this world.

The documentary comes with perfect timing, especially with these fights now being cracked down on let alone heavily frowned upon by the MMA world as they risk the sport being banned as a by-product of these fights, despite a number of fighters such as Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbot being recruited from the backyards leagues after their fights caught the interest of fight promoters.

An engaging documentary which limits its audience due to its gritty violence, while perhaps not looking at the conflict between the professional MMA leagues and the backyards they frequently pooled talent from. Still for MMA fans they may find much to enjoy here, while the training montages and dedication these fighters show is nothing short of inspiring, much like their fight to escape the streets which they come from and for that it is worth giving it a watch for an alternative to the usual tales of life on the streets.

Mudbloods

Ok I guess I should get the irony out of the way first as here I am writing a review about a sport based on Harry Potter, a series which honestly I really couldn’t care less about outside of the fact it gets kids reading which is never a bad thing. Still here we have a documentary that even with my pre-conceived opinions of Harry Potter I still found myself able to thoroughly enjoy this documentary about real life quidditch.

So what is a “Mudblood”? Well within the world of Harry Potter it is a person of none magical background, but still in possession of magical powers. True this has zero to do with anything in the documentary, so those expecting to see players flying around on brooms may be more than alittle disappointed mu. However despite not processing any form of magic ability it hasn’t stopped Tom Marks and his team based at UCLA from finding a way to bring a piece of the popular fantasy books into the real world as they join the 151+ teams currently active in the USA currently playing the fast growing sport, while at the same time fighting for the sport to be recognised for its athleticism rather than its geeky roots.

Quidditch or muggle quidditch as its sometimes called is a full contact, intergender team game combining elements of rugby and dodgeball, while requiring players to run around with a broom between their legs, constantly on the lookout for the elusive snitch which in this case takes the form of a guy dressed in yellow running around the pitch while the players attempt to capture the tennis ball in a sock which hang out of his pants.  It is of course hard to fault the ingenuity of those who founded the sport, while at the same time the surprising level of on pitch brutality which is highlighted throughout which I’m sure will have even the biggest sceptic of the sport questioning their initial thoughts.

Opening in spring 2011, the documentary follows the UCLA team who proudly sit at the top of the LA rankings, followed by the more colourfully named USC Trojans, Hollywood Harpies, Occidental College and Moorpark Maruaders. Now with an eye on winning the fifth quidditch world cup we follow the team through their preparations for this big event held in New York City and which has been won by Middlebury College who founded the sport back in the fall of 2005 and have since dominated the sport let alone hold the honour of winning the previous four world cups and currently are the favourites to win the 5^th.

While Tom and his teammates might be the main focus, the documentary also goes behind the scenes of the world cup as Alex Benepe the Commissioner of the International Quiddich Association (IQA) as he attempts to put the whole thing together while facing a number of mild breakdowns I’m sure as he has to battle with financing and permissions for the selected location being revoked at the last minute. Like all the players interviewed for the documentary Benepe has an undying love for the sport, while carrying with him a sense of showmanship as he brings an element of the fictional world into reality with his costume choices. At the same time he has to constantly deal with the general view that the sport is a joke rather than the highly competitive sport it is shown here, something only highlighted by a web interview he gives, only for the interviewer to write the sport off as being played solely by nerds with a deluded sense of reality.

Thankfully director Farzad Sangari shoots the film with a much more respectful lens as he builds upon his original 10 minute short he made for his film class while studying at UCLA and which he was able to fund via a kickstarter campaign, while relying on both the Harry Potter and quidditch communities to help promote the film. Sangari here manages gives us a film which manages to balance the rousing team captain speeches and enthusiastic players with more quieter moments such as those following Katie Aiani who box office magazine voted the #1 Harry Potter fan in the world and looking at her collection of memorabilia which consumes her room and alongside the usual books and posters also includes a wand ready for her first child.

It should be noted though for a sport whose roots are based in the world of Harry Potter, the sections involving Aiani really are the sole parts which mention this world, which might come as something of a disappointment to the Potter fans that may enter into this expecting to see more, but despite these roots it would seem that the sport for most players featured stands as its own entity, with UCLA Captain Tom Marks confessing that he’s only finished the first two books. This link also comes with an inflated price tag for anything which can be associated with the franchise as highlighted by the $60 price tag attached to Nimbus replica brooms, while gaffa tape seems to be the quidditch players best friend judging by how much equipment it holds together and leading to Marks joking about finding a tape company to sponsor them.

Somehow Sangari here has managed to turn a film focusing on what from the outset would seem to be anything but a serious sport and instead here gives us a gripping and engaging film that even somone like myself who doesn’t know the first thing about the sport can still enjoy as his use of graphics help fill in the gaps in knowledge while the footage shot at the world cup let alone the warm up games leading up to it are packed with exciting moments or quick paced and frequently brutal action to rival documentaries focusing on more traditional sports to the point were this documentary could change the way we view the sport, as being more than a pastime for geeks.

American Teen

Seemingly based on “The Breakfast Club” idea of high school hierocracy the documentary looks at five students, each belonging to a different social group while following them through their final year of school as they deal with various issues such as dating and falling out with friends all while trying to figure out what they want to do after school. The documentary switching between its five subjects which include

• Hannah AKA the “Rebel” – A self-confessed outsider thanks to her liberal views which don’t tend to go down to well in the small-town conservative culture of Warsaw. She distracts herself with her art, music and writing while dreaming of leaving for San Francisco to work in films.

• Colin AKA the “Jock” – Star of the school basketball team, he is looking to impress the visiting college scouts in order to get a scholarship for college.

• Megan AKA the “Princess” – The most popular student and queen bee, who aims to follow in her family legacy by getting into the University of Notre Dame, while more than willing to do anything to maintain her position in the social order.

• Mitch AKA the “Heartthrob  - One of the popular kids and a teammate of Colin’s on the basketball team.
• Jake AKA the “Geek” – the bottom of the social pile Jake’s prefers to loose himself in video games and the school band, while his introverted nature means he finds it difficult to make friends. His main goal is to find a date for prom or at least a girlfriend.

Directed by Nanette Burstein whose no doubt best known for directing the boxing documentary “On the Ropes” and “The Kid Stays in the Picture” which charted the life and career of film producer Robert Evans. Here though she casts her net in a pretty wide sweep as she attempts to craft a picture of final year students at school, while attempting to avoid the usual pitfalls of just focusing on the popular kids which as someone who school life saw them spending their time lurking in the no man’s land between being popular and the bottom of the social pile, I can assure you that school was far from the happiest of times which most of these documentaries like to proclaim.

 

Originally Burstein reviewed  more than 100 potential schools for the film of which 10 agreed to participate and which after interviewing seniors at these school, ultimately decided on Warsaw Community High school in Warsaw, Indianna which has the distinction of being the “Orthopaedic Capital of the World” and seemingly little else. This certainly gives it an interesting angle in how eager the subjects are to escape the quiet town life.

Each of the segments is led solely by their subjects as they go about their hobbies or general day to day school life. Hannah comes off especially well with this technique especially with her outspoken nature with Jake coming a close second even if his sections were he’s addressing the camera directly tend to drift into romantic fantasies.  Megan on the other hand largely ignores the camera and generally acts like she is in her own episode of “The Hills” outside of a segment in the third quarter were she talks about her older sister who committed suicide in a rare moment of vulnerability especially when she’s spent most of the documentary seemingly not caring what affect her actions have on anyone unless it in some way benefits her, as she spray paints the word “Fag” on a rival’s house after they overulled her idea for prom while making sure that she e-mail’s the whole school an ill-advised topless selfie sent to her by mistake. Colin meanwhile comes off as an uncharismatic oaf who showboating attitude is currently leading the school’s basketball team into its worse season ever. Perhaps because of this the majority of his footage is kept to him playing, or hanging around his Elvis impersonator dad who is keen to see his son enlisted in the Army rather than resting on his skills as a basketball player.

The real draw here through are ironically the least popular kids in school, with Hannah trying to find her place as she defiantly walks her own line, while coming close to failing the year after skipping school following a break up with her long term boyfriend.  Jake equally makes for an engaging subject as he goes through his own series of failed attempts at romance which are almost as crushing to watch as they are for him to endure, so when he is taken on a drunken bender with his brother you can’t help but root for him finally having something work out well for him.

Unquestionably due to covering these major groups the end result is a slightly disjointed ride with certain subjects coming off better than others, while Mitch really comes off as an afterthought seeing how he is the least featured of the five with his only real presence in the film coming from the brief and surprising relationship he has with Hannah, before becoming arguably the worst person in the film when he breaks up with her via text message.  This lack of footage only makes it less surprising that he was left of some posters for this film.  At the same time the film has come under criticism of being staged, though I couldn’t personally tell and to be honest you’re more likely to see faker footage on reality TV than you see here. Yes it is perhaps overly dramatic is places but then wasn’t school always this way.

A flawed documentary with its mishmash of footage and hit and miss subjects, its occasional great moments tend to get lost along the way, while its animated sections prove to be more of a distraction than adding anything to the film. Ultimately its hard to see what Burstein was aiming to achieve with this documentary, especially when it plays out exactly how you'd expect it to with the rich kids and jocks get what they want, while the geeks and outsiders only get to find themselves when they escape the confines of school. Still if you want to see your school days played out with modern teens then this might be the film for you, only just don't expect any big answers as this film certainly doesn't have any.