Kassim the Dream Press
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IFC FILMS PRESENTS A Film by Kief Davidson Executive produced by Forest Whitaker WINNER AFI FEST 2008 Grand Jury Prize & Audience Award WINNER AFI Silver Docs 2008 AFM Silver Docs Award WINNER IDFA AMSTERDAM DOC U Award 2008, 86 mins. www.kassimthedream.com Publicity Contact: David Magdael - David Magdael & Associates, Inc. 600 West Ninth Street, Suite 704 Los Angeles, CA 90015 Office: 213 624 7827 Fax: 213 488 0398 Cell: 213 399 1434 Email: [email protected] LIST OF AWARDS AND FESTIVALS WINNER AFI FEST BEST DOCUMENTARY WINNER AFI FEST AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER IDFA AMSTERDAM DOC U AWARD NOMINEE INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION BEST DOCUMENTARY WINNER SILVERDOCS AFM / SILVERDOCS AWARD WINNER FORT LAUDERDALE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENT AWARD WINNER ANN ARBOR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL LIFE FORCE AWARD WINNER US SPORTS FILM FESTIVAL AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER GASPARILLA FILM FESTIVAL BEST DOCUMENTARY Other Film Festival Screenings include (partial list) Tribeca film festival (World Premiere) Hamptons International Film Festival AFI Dallas International Film Festival St. Louis International Film Festival Philadelphia International Film Festival Cleveland International Film Festival Atlanta Film Festival KASSIM THE DREAM A Film by Kief Davidson Film Credits A Believe Media and Urban Landscapes film production Distributor: IFC FILMS – North America Produced & Directed by Kief Davidson First Assistant Camera Mike Norman Producer Liz Silver Second Assistant Camera Rich Homa Executive Producer Luke Thornton Additional Camera Kief Davidson Executive Producers Forest Whitaker Gaffer Keisha Whitaker Shawn Helgedalen Executive Producer Best Boy Electric Joshua Green Chuck Linkes Co-Producer 2nd Electric Kathleen Davidson Simon Cho Co-Producer Grip Tom Moran Chad Eshbough Director of Photography Rigger Tony Molina Jr. Dave Gonzalez Editors Additional Location Sound Tony Breuer Randy Bickler Kief Davidson Matt Kelly Music Haven McKinney Leo Heiblum Eric Moorman Jacobo Lieberman Andres Solis Driver David Blackman Production Manager – Uganda Victor Ochen Still Photography Nic Johnson Production Manager – USA Tony Molina Jr. Billy Herwig Set Production Assistants Music Supervisor Grant Barbierto Nnamdi Moweta Joshua Ballinger Robert Singerman Andrew Gonzalez French Music Export Office Ricardo de Laveaga Dylan Matlock Music Consultant Joe Rudge Office Production Assistants Mardana M. Mayginnes Location Sound Camilla Martins Mike Norman Anthony Bensusan Translators Lutalo Sekanyo Robin Okello Chris M. Jacobson Additional Editing Sound Editing Jason Knight Brad Semenoff Assistant Editors Production Legal Services Chris Zeller Victor Cook Mike Escher Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Seltz Joshua Ballinger Distribution Advisory and Legal Services 2nd Assistant Editors Andrew Hurwitz Mark Cummins Schreck, Rose, Dapello, Adams & Hurwitz LLP Dustin Slaughter Transcribers Graphic Design Joshua Ballinger Kenneth Brady Chloe Camonayan Mark Cummins Title Design Eboni Eldridge Neil Huxley Erin Fox Tristan Franz Compositors Khalid Khan Chris Zeller Alyson Humphrey Matt Kelly Christina Jankovic Lorraine Jones Web Design / Additional Graphics Ricardo de Laveaga Nic Johnson Andi Lim Mayumi Maruyana Post Production Services Mardana M. Mayginnes Digital Film Tree Wilson McCourtney Danny Newall Online Editor Emily Seeboonruang Lakan de Leon Dustin Slaughter Post Supervision Archive Edvin Mehrabyan HBO Ramy Katrib ESPN Golden Boy Promotions Color Correction Services Lou Dibella Entertainment Encore Video Hollywood Gary Shaw Promotions Ugandan Media Center Colorist Camera Pix Arnold Ramm AP Images Kassim Ouma Offline Edit Services Zebra Productions Musicians Alexis Ruiz, marimba and vibraphone Post Sound Rodrigo Duarte, cello The Dub Stage Ramón Gutiérrez, requinto jarocho Jacobo Lieberman, electric and acoustic guitar, banjo Re-Recording Mixers requinto, jarocho Marti D. Humphrey, CAS Chris M. Jacobson, CAS Programming Andres Solis, Jacobo Lieberman and Leonardo Heiblum Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Design "Dikalo (Salt Popcorn)" Performed by Manu Dibango Courtesy of Mercury Records France, a division of Universal Music S.A. Under license from Universal Music Enterprises “Keleya” Performed by Moussa Doumbia From the CD Moussa Doumbia Keleya Courtesy of Oriki Music, France “Exodus” Performed by Daara J (Abdou Fatha Seck, Mamadou Lamine Seck, Jacques El Hadji, Mansour Sagna, Jean Marc Vespasien) From the CD Boomerang Courtesy of Universal Music France / Daara J Productions "Borom-Bi" Performed by Daara J (Abdou Fatha Seck, Mamadou Lamine Seck, Jacques El Hadji, Mansour Sagna, Jean Marc Vespasien) From the CD Courtesy of SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT (France) S.A. By arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT “Bomba Clat” Performed by Chameleone & Leone Island From the CD Befuula Courtesy of XYZ Music Studio Ltd “Maama Waange” Performed by Jose Chameleone & Leone Island From the CD Maama Waange Courtesy of Kasiwukira Ltd “Sivo dyivo” Performed by Jose Chameleone & Leone Island From the CD “Heavyweight” Courtesy of XYZ Music Studio Ltd “Holiday” Performed by Nameless & Ogopa Dj'S From the CD Kenya Flava Vol 1. Courtesy of Ogopa Dj's “Le Oleo” Performed by Crazy GK Featuring AY, Mwanafalsafa & John Mahundi From the CD Kenya Flava Vol 1. Courtesy of John Mahundi Publishing “Letter O” Performed by Ragga Dee From the CD Letter O Courtesy of Dan Kazibwe "Di Bombs" Performed by Ikwunga The Afrobeat Poet & Mr. Something Something (John MacLean, Larry Graves, Johan Hultqvist, Paul MacDougall, Liam Smith, & Jennifer Dallas) From the CD Deep Sleep Courtesy of Rebisi Hut Recordings, Dele Sosimi Music & World Records In Co-Production with Monaco Film Hamburg and ARTE/ZDF Enterprises Programme Producer for ZDF/ ARTE Martin Pieper Producer – Monaco film Werner Vennewald KASSIM THE DREAM A Film by Kief Davidson Synopsis 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 29, 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. Running Time – 86 minutes KASSIM THE DREAM A Film by Kief Davidson Director's Statement My first encounter with Ugandan boxer Kassim Ouma was in the summer of 2005, just prior to his World Championship title defense against Roman Karmazin. Nearing his hotel room the day of the fight, his manager, Tom Moran, turned to me cautiously and said, "Please don't bring up his childhood until after the fight!" Kassim greeted me with a brash, confident smile - "Hey dude, you the director? You Jewish, right? I'm black Irish" - amidst a dozen of his friends dancing wildly to the beat of a Fifty Cent song while downing beer after beer. This was the upbeat, good-natured side I'd read about in numerous articles on the former child soldier. But how could a man, kidnapped at the age of six and forced into a life of senseless tribal killing, be so good-humored; how had he managed to overcome his turbulent past to become the Junior Middleweight Champion of the World? Kassim's childhood was hardly unique: over 300,000 children continue to fight in bloody conflicts worldwide, as oppressor and victim, terrorized into compliance, and trained to become deadly, expendable fighters. Surviving unimaginable hardships, Kassim is one of the fortunate few to find great success outside his homeland, appearing to have attained the American Dream; his lighthearted exterior conceals the staggering pain and tragedy he has experienced in his lifetime. Kassim desperately needed to reconcile his past with his desire to move forward. Over the next two years, and across two continents, he would slowly reveal private details of his childhood. And a military pardon, granted by the same men who abducted him, would enable him to return to Uganda for the first time in ten years, and allow the healing process to begin. KASSIM THE DREAM A Film by Kief Davidson Bios KIEF DAVIDSON – Producer, Director, Editor Kief Davidson is an award-winning feature film and documentary director born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His latest film Kassim the Dream, about a former child soldier turned boxing champion of the World, premiered at the 2008 Tribeca film festival and won the Silver Docs award at AFI/Silver Docs film festival. Magnolia pictures will theatrically release the film