Headwinds
Manuel Camia
Official selection
Michele Formica’s documentary follows fighter Khadim Dia through the days leading up to a mixed martial arts bout.
- Director
- Michele Formica
- Country
- Italy
- Running time
- 00:20:00
For Khadim Dia, preparing for a bout begins long before he enters the ring. Sweet Sweat, a documentary by Michele Formica, follows the young Italian-Senegalese fighter through the week before an important contest, between training and weight management.
The gym is only one setting in the story. The film also accompanies Khadim in everyday life: meals, the bath, sauna, bedroom and journeys all form part of the approach to the weigh-in. Time is marked by the days remaining and the actions involved in making his weight category.
During the week shown in the film, the scales become a constant reference point. Training continues alongside weight-cutting practices and moments of rest: preparation involves the body even before the fight has begun.
Rather than concentrating entirely on the outcome of the fight, Sweet Sweat observes the work on the body that comes before it. The Italian short, approximately twenty minutes long, takes viewers into a less visible part of practising mixed martial arts.
