Directors Robert Mentov and Dwight Jantzi bring us this honest retelling of the life of Ugandan Helen Baleke and the makeshift group of girls that she trained to protect their homes in Katanga, Kampala's largest slum.

After being assaulted on the way to school at the age of 16, Bakele was sent to Katanga’s Rhino Boxing Club to help her regain her confidence and learn how to protect herself. What no-one could predict however was that the gym’s leaking roof, frequent flooding and rudimentary equipment would prove no barrier to Bakele becoming Uganda’s first competitive woman boxer. 

The directors, who frequently turn to analog processes to create their work, used 16mm, Hi8 and digital film while on location in Katanga, weaving between the different formats to create a series of connected impressions of the volatile yet resilient nature of everyday women. Mentov and Jantzi explain: “We spent several weeks with Bakele and the rest of the boxers in order to collaborate on a narrative level and tell the most honest story possible through their eyes.”

With full-frame close-ups and aggressive competition footage, Mentov and Jantzi capture the endless fount of physical and emotional power that Bakele and her group of female boxers possess. Bakele comments: “We are mothers, we are daughters. Before we suffered but now we fight back.”