Naseem, Fight With Grace
Qumra Projects
/ Feature Documentary / United Kingdom, Qatar
In Arabic, English
Rated: This film has not been rated.
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Synopsis
‘Naseem, Fight With Grace’ resurrects the captivating story of British-Yemeni featherweight boxer Naseem Hamed, an icon of the 1990s, to explore ideas about colonial history, pop culture, faith and identity. Now a largely forgotten figure, Hamed was a sensational sporting talent. He became a world champion at 21 and was lionised from Sheffield to Sana’a. However, derided from his youth as arrogant and flash by English commentators and journalists, Hamed’s career ended abruptly with his one and only defeat, just a few months before 9/11. Our archive-based documentary reflects on his life and times to tell a “people’s history” of Prince Naseem.
As well as celebrating Hamed’s formidable talent and irrepressible charisma, our film explores the resonances and significance of Naz’s power in the ring, and his unwavering pride in his heritage and religion. Weaving together the histories of Sheffield’s steel-working Yemeni community, the violent racism on the streets of Britain from the 1980s, and the explosion of British second-generation subcultures in the 1990s, ‘Naseem Fight with Grace’ explores the tension between Hamed’s near-cult status among certain communities, and the ambivalence of a nation that never took him fully to heart.