Director Matt Leutwyler, Actress Ama Qamata and other members of the cast pose for a photo.
It was an evening of glitz and glamour as the move “Fight Like a Girl” was screened in Kigali for the first time on August 2 bringing together local and international stars as well as invited guest to watch the movie which focuses on the life of a young Congolese woman who was forced to work in an illegal mineral mine to plot her escape from her captors and find a new life for herself as a professional boxer.
The girl, named ‘Safi’, played by South African actress Ama Qamata, fights through the movie to make it out of her hard life, relying on her boxing skills and a gifted right hand, to punch her way out of trouble.
The screening at the Rebero-based cinema was attended by the South African star known in the Netflix series “Blood and Water,” alongside fellow actors and actresses from Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who featured in the movie. Also in attendance was Arthur Nkusi, who featured in the movie, alongside his father, Kennedy Mazimpaka, in a father-son affair.
The film, which was directed by American filmmaker Matthew Leutwyler was a climax of a two-day Women’s Mental Health and Gender Equity forum organised by Kate Spade New York, AMCHAM (American Chamber of Commerce) Rwanda and Norrsken House Kigali on August 1 and 2, 2024 at the Nyarugenge-based startup hub.
Participants of the sessions watch the movie, to link it to the resilience women need, to overcome difficult situations and make a life for themselves, just like ‘Safi’, the main character in the movie, did, proving that she could defy odds to achieve her goals, much as she did not achieve the final victory and the championship fight.
The movie screening was well attended.
Beyond making it out of difficult circumstances, the film ends with Safi seemingly finding love, with Cedrique, portrayed by Nkusi, showing her that even though she didn’t win, she won.
Speaking about bringing the movie to Rwanda, Yannick Ntirushwa, Executive Director, American Chamber of Commerce, Rwanda, said that he worked with Kate Spade and partners to screen the movie in Kigali, after he watched the movie when it premiered in New York.
“I was lucky enough to go watch it in New York in May. The first time I saw this movie, it was different. right. You can imagine, as a Rwandan, from East Africa being in a space that was showing a movie from our continent,” Ntirushwa told the press after the screening.
“After the movie ended, we went to an afterparty and I talked to Matt and Clarice (co-producers) and said I promise you guys before the end of this year I want to bring this movie to Rwanda and here we are today,” Ntirushwa said, adding that the timing could have been any better, screening the movie after two-days on conversations on women’s resilience.
Ntirushwa said that the discussion on gender equity and mental health in one way or another mirrored what was portrayed in the film ‘Fight like a Girl’, particularly the vital topics of women’s resilience, women’s empowerment and women’s mental health, which made the screening of the movie timely.
The cast interacted with the audience after the screening.
“It is amazing that this movie for the first time is being shown in Rwanda. We are so proud that we’re able to bring it here and everyone actually got to watch it for the first time in Rwanda, from Rwandan space, from African space, with 90 percent of the cast and crew Rwandan,” he said.
He said that while the story focuses on Congo, it is a reality many Africans relate to, which makes it much more than just a movie about DRC, but rather Africa in general.
On her part, Qamata said that portraying the character of Safi required putting in quite some work, because during the shooting period she would have to wake up as early as 5am to train for the role and train two more times in the afternoon and evening.
“I only had a month to prepare for this role, so we really had to put in a lot of pressure, a lot of effort to make it believable but it was also a lot of fun. I didn’t know that I could do that and speaking of resilience, I think even preparing for this role took a lot for me as well, to push myself because I didn’t think I could do something like this,” the amiable South African actress said.
Ama Qamata said playing ‘Safi’ was challenging in many ways.
Qamata said it was very challenging for her given the physical training involved and she had to push herself and the result was a beautiful movie, which left her with memorable moments and also brought her closer to East Africa.
On his part, Nkusi said that his character was that of a calm voice amidst chaos and desperate times, bringing in the element of love.
“I was the calm voice in the movie and I loved it,” Nkusi said, adding that while the story revolved around violence and fighting, he wanted to bring in a soft aspect, to show that even amidst chaos, calmness can prevail.
Clarisse Uwase, who was the production manager of the film, focusing on the logistical bit of things, said shooting ‘Fight like a Girl’ was rigorous in many ways, given that it was a cross-border project, which required tracking the lives of the characters in the movie, since it is based on a true story.
She had been working on the series with the Director Leutwyler, who decided to do a feature film and that’s when we brought the cast and the real ladies in the movie.
“In my role as the production manager, I was responsible for everything on set, so I put in a lot of work and hours, alot of sleepless nights, it was it was crazy and as my first first international project, it was very hard and challenging in many ways,” Uwase said.
The film portrays the resilience and strength of women, particularly in East DR Congo, who face tough challenges as a result of insecurity and illegal mining activities characterised by violence.
Arthur Nkusi featured in the movie as ‘Cedrique’.
19-year-old Sifa, who was kidnapped by rebels and forced to work in an illegal mine, watches as the rogue men torture a mother who could not withstand the demands of the rigourous work and she embarks on a six-day escape journey, leading her to the city of Goma, where she meets a boxing promoter ‘Bagunda’, portrayed by Hakim Kae-Kazim, who enrols her in his gym.
Upon joining a hard-knock all-women’s boxing club, where she begins to rebuild her life, Sifa relies on her immense boxing power and talent to overcome some of the toughest female boxes as she punches her way to the top.
The screening was a warm affair, characterised by a red carpet and famous faces in attendance, including fashion designer and Moshions founder Moses Turahirwa, award-winning actress Eliane Umuhire and Taryn Bird, the Senior Director in charge of Social Impact at American fashion house Kate Spade New York, among others.
The screening of the film, which earlier this year was nominated in different categories of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), was co-hosted by brewer Skol, KG28 Media, Masozera Africa together with AmCham.
