(Poirier before his UFC debut)
With the recent run of awesome mixed martial arts documentaries we’ve been treated to the past few years like Renzo Gracie: Legacy, The Reem, Driven, Once I was a Champion and Like Water, there’s a pretty good chance that we’re in for a drought, especially if you consider that there was a six-plus-year span between the current block of flicks and The Smashing Machine.
Before we enter into our next six years of obscure docs loosely-related to MMA like Joe Son’s Prison Diaries and Gus Johnson at LeCage, we still have one fantastic looking one to look forward to: Fightville.
The film, which is set for limited theatrical release and for On Demand viewing by select cable and satellite providers April 20, follows the lives of a number of Louisiana-based fighters, most notably fast-rising UFC featherweight Dustin Poirier and his coach and mentor, TUF 7 and UFC vet Tim Credeur.
Fightville Official Trailer from Pepper and Bones on Vimeo.
Directed and produced by the powerhouse documentary filmmaking team of Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker (How to Fold a Flag, Bulletproof Salesman, The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair and Gunner Palace), the film paints a colorful portrait of the very different lives and struggles both in and out of the cage that its protagonists go through to live their dreams of making it to the Octagon or of simply overcoming their personal demons and fears to step in the cage in front of 500 people.
As you can see by the latest trailer for the raw, gripping and emotional 85-minute opus above, it’s a must see movie for fight fans and otherwise as it’s less about MMA and more about the human condition.
It’s no secret that we’re big supporters of quality, well-made film projects, and Fightville definitely is a movie that fits the bill. We’ve been looking forward to since reading the reviews and are hoping that the current trend of MMA docs that don’t suck doesn’t end anytime with this movie.
Do yourself a favor and check it out on April 20. It might be a while before another feature of this magnitude comes around, unless of course you think Bob Sapp’s How to Throw a Fight like It’s Your Job sounds promising.