This is the story of World Champion Boxer, Kassim “The Dream” Ouma - born in Uganda, kidnapped by the rebel army and trained to be a child soldier at the age of 6. When the rebels took over the government, Kassim became an army soldier who was forced to commit many horrific atrocities, making him both a victim and perpetrator. He soon discovered the army’s boxing team and realized the sport was his ticket to freedom. After 12 years of warfare, Kassim defected from Africa and arrived in the United States. Homeless and culture shocked, he quickly rose through the boxing ranks and became Junior Middleweight Champion of the World. 

Kassim, now age 27, seems to have obtained the American Dream with his jovial nature, fame and hip hop lifestyle. As Kassim trains for his next world title fight against Jermain Taylor in Little Rock Arkansas, keeping his demons out of the ring becomes increasingly difficult. His desires to reunite with family in Uganda intensify when Kassim’s only hope for a safe return is a military pardon from the president and government responsible for his abduction. 

From the director of The Devil’s Miner, Kief Davidson received unprecedented access to Kassim Ouma during a pivotal time in the boxer’s career. Filmed in cinema verite, current events are skillfully woven in with brutal revelations of a stolen childhood. The parallels reveal a complex and haunted fighter surviving against incredible odds.

The story of an undocumented immigrant who grew up in the United States but has never been able to obtain residency, although all of the rest of her family has documented status. She speaks of the impact the uncertainty has upon her life.

An estimated 250,000 children are exploited every day as child soldiers around the world. There are more than 30,000 former child soldiers in the West African nation of Liberia alone, many of whom are eager to help rebuild their country. Now a unique photography program is helping some of them see hope and beauty again, and regain the respect of their communities as peacemakers.

Reporter Tracy Chung tells the story of South Central Farm in Los Angeles, which used to be the largest urban farm in the United States. Today, however, that land is empty, bordered by train tracks and warehouses. 

See what happened to the South Central Farmers who used to till the urban plot.

Not too many folks know, but I have a total aspiration and love for short films and documentaries.

Just a few things that capture what I like:

true stories (not mandatory); CINEMATOGRAPHY; High Definition (love it); strong concept / good plot; widescreen; community issue / global crisis; strong plot; good acting/casting; ”raw feel”

This is all I can think of right now, and I’m not even sure if this “combination” makes sense, I just know a good film when I see it. So, the moral of the story point being, I will post frequent short films, bios, documentaries, etc through the lens of “Finesse Films” (just came up with that name, might change it LOL). I think ultimately (read: once I’m settled, have play money, and the necessary resources) I’ll dibble and dabble into short films someway somehow.

sidenote: if there are any aspiring film folks out there that have the same interest, yet have the resources, holla @ cherboy.

In the meantime, enjoy the short film below: hilarious.