“King” is a story about two young boxers fighting to be recognized for their greatness. Training through pain and hardship everyday to seize an opportunity to prove themselves. Meanwhile, their commitment and struggle is being used as business where the fighters are making pennies on the dollar. This story is about the cross section between ambition and exploitation.
King and his roommate Sam live in an apartment complex alongside other fighters. Their landlord is also their fight promoter, who signs them up for weekly bouts in underground venues for small crowds. No matter how good the fighter, he controls when, who, and where they fight. King and Sam never fully recover from their brutal fights, living with constant injury. They motivate themselves with dreams of a life away from poverty and struggle. Keeping their head up so they can grasp the opportunity when it comes.
This narrative will be told in an intimate way, showing the viewer the love these two young men have for each other as well as the sport, making their moments of struggle more painful to endure. Using the conventions of the sports film genre to the advantage of our storytelling; Every time the fighters make progress in their training or win a tough fight, viewers will assume the two are getting closer to their goal of escape, when in reality they are just becoming more valuable to exploit. This is a story we believe we are required to tell as young and aspiring artists. Not only to share the mistreatment of young boxers, but also the exploitation of all young labour.
This project will be done in collaboration with students within the Faculty of Fine Arts, sharing knowledge that we’ve gained through our time at Concordia. As we continue through our pre-production on the film, we will be recruiting more of our peers to bring this vision to life. We also wish to send this film to many film festivals, including local festivals such as Fantasia, as a way of showing what students can achieve within our faculty. Additionally, “King” will be shot entirely during the winter break, giving us an outlet to express our creativity while away from our studies.
YEARS FUNDED
2025
AMOUNT ALLOCATED
$1,500