Between Rings

Between Rings (2014)

Estherin Kehä

Whilst most young women in her home town of Zambia were busy planning weddings, Esther Phiri had other ideas: to stay single, be a professional boxer and complete the high school education that she abandoned when her family fell on hard times. Her quick and meteoric rise to an undefeated world champion took not only the boxing world by surprise, but sent emotions fever pitch. But whilst the global press rushed to portray her as a strong and confident woman tagged »Zambia’s Million Dollar Baby», in private Esther slowly crumbled under the weight of her success. Adulation and celebrity had increased, but so had criticism, envy and expectations from her family and fans. In the pursuit of independence from a husband, her global success had made her a symbol of hope and empowerment, and a provider for her family and friends whose demands increased as Esther’s fortune grew.

Date of release
2014-09-23
TMDB
7.0 / 10 (2)
Runtime
1h 13m
Genres
Documentary
Director
Salla Sorri, Jessie Chisi

Interesting facts

Between Rings: The Esther Phiri Story is a documentary film co-written and co-directed by Zambian filmmaker Jessie Chisi, and Finnish director Salla Sorri. The film is about Esther Phiri, Chisi's cousin, who left her education and prospect of marriage to embark on a boxing career, and became seven-time world welterweight champion.

Production

The film, originally titled Woman on Hold before production was completed, was funded by the Finnish Film Foundation.

Chisi and Sorri first met Phiri at her gym in Lukasa in 2009, at the height of her career. Phiri had complained that she was tired of how the public and the media invaded her life, but agreed to expose herself in the documentary because the filmmakers promised her she could represent her own story in the film.

The co-directors followed Phiri for three years, accompanied by a small crew made up mostly of women, and documented her in both the public and her personal spheres.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended