Born Warriors

Born Warriors is a 2016 trilogy of documentary films directed and shot by Vincent Giordano. The films focus on the art of Lethwei, an ancient form of Burmese bare-knuckle fighting that is still practiced throughout Myanmar.[1]

Born Warriors poster

Overview

Burmese Lethwei, or Myanmar Traditional Boxing, is one of the oldest combat sports in Myanmar, and the Burmese are the last of the great bare-knuckle fighters in Southeast Asia.[2] The Thais, Cambodians and Laotians all gave up or outlawed their active bare-knuckle fighting traditions and introduced more modern (and gloved) ring arts such as Muay Thai, Pradal Serey and Muay Lao.[3]

The Born Warriors project unfolds in three distinct parts. Each part is a separate film. The first details Lethwei before Burma's era of democratic reform. The second part focuses on how the sport is again evolving as it struggles with growth and fierce competition among promoters who wish to control and dominate it. The third part updates the second documentary, but focuses more on the rural communities and the further evolution of the sport. It is a special updated director's cut of the second documentary.[4]

The original idea was to create distinctive chapters, similar to a book, where the main documentaries are supported by extensive bonus material. The latter material delves deeper into specific topics covered in the main documentaries.[4]

Ultimately, it is the story of Lethwei's survival through the dark periods of Myanmar's tough military rule and the country's gradual transition toward a quasi democracy.[5]

Synopsis

Born Warriors focuses on the ancient fighting sport of Lethwei and the tightly knit group of fighters, trainers and promoters who struggled during a turbulent period in Burma's history to keep the sport alive.[6]

The documentary, shot prior to the opening of the country's borders in 2011, takes advantage of a unique archive of rare photos, manuscripts, footage and training documents assembled from the research that took the director close to two decades to compile.[7]

Born Warriors Redux follows the sport of Lethwei as it faces an unusual series of challenges stemming from the opening of the country to the outside world. Lethwei is an ancient sport that once prepared men for combat and served as a rite of passage into manhood. The recent rise of modern training camps throughout Myanmar have allowed people from all walks of life the ability to freely train and compete.[8] The documentary focuses on the clash of modern promoters who are clamoring to control the sport and its future direction.[9]

Born Warriors Redux: Bound Fists is a special director's cut of the second documentary that focuses more on the rural communities that have been the sport's lifeblood since ancient times. The film shows how the people in these communities have kept the sport as it was while modern promoters try their best to the sell the sport as a commodity within Myanmar and to the outside world.[10]

Production

Filming began in 1999 on the northern border between Thailand and Myanmar. The original footage was not intended for a documentary, but as visual support documentation for the Vanishing Flame, a cross-cultural book on the bare-knuckle fighting arts of Southeast Asia and India.[11]

During a trip to Mandalay in 2003, Vincent suffered whiplash when his car nearly flipped as he attempted to flee a military crackdown. His camera was severely damaged and critical footage was lost.[11]

A network of Burmese informers and spies continued to monitor the filming progress, but did not obstruct any of the shoots. Instead, many of the Burmese who participated or helped were endlessly harassed.[11] The situation escalated in 2005, when Vincent and Associate Producer and Music Composer Camus Celli visited the compound of the late author and political activist Min Theinkha to film his Lethwei club in Hmawbi township.[12]

An eventual book deal eventually fell through, but Giordano continued to train, document and film for over two decades. He traveled through most of Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and India during this period.[13]

A series of screenings of rough-cut material was set up in New York and Connecticut.[14] The screenings failed to generate any interest or further financial support, and the project was scrapped. However, the opening of Myanmar in 2011-2012 sparked renewed interest among hungry Lethwei promoters inside the country. In July 2012, Giordano released a limited-edition DVD entitled Born to Battle: Burma vs. Thailand via his Vanishing Flame underground newsletter. This helped generate funds that enabled him to take a new investigative look at what was happening within the sport.[11] Associate Producer Paul Nikitopoulos, who was living in Yangon at the time, provided the impetus for a totally new video shoot that spread over three years and was completed on a shoestring budget. The final Born Warriors documentaries are a direct result of those intensive filming trips.[15]

Reception

At the invitation of film producer and martial artist, Warrington Hudlin, the original test edit of Born Warriors entitled Bare Knuckle Warriors was screened at the Museum of the Moving Image in March, 2011.[16] The successful screening was mentioned in a Black Belt magazine article covering the Fist and Sword shows.[17][18]

The Born Warriors edit was further refined, and a second show was assembled by Burmese Bando Master Mary Mester and held at the Real Art Ways theater in Hartford, Connecticut in October 2011. The show focused on Burmese martial tradition and introduced the new Footprints in the River documentary. This new piece was an overview of Burmese martial arts including Lethwei, Thaing, Bando, Banshay, Naban and various spiritual traditions. In an effort to raise funds to complete the Born Warriors project, a third show was held on June 16, 2012 at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City.[19] Editor Robert Reiter of Muay Thaimes magazine offered to publish an article to support the documentary after attending the early screenings, and a piece written by Giordano appeared in the Spring 2012 issue.[20]

Awards

Born Warriors premiered at the 2014 Myanmar Film Festival as an official selection.[21] It won a special merit award and was later named an official selection of the Big Apple Film Festival, October Film Festival and the Outside the Box Film Festival.[22]

Born Warriors Redux won the 2015 Best Documentary award at the Los Angeles Movie Awards, Best Documentary Runner up at the Action On Film International Film Festival, and was an official selection of the Hudson Valley Film Festival.[23]

Born Warriors Redux: Bound Fists won 2015 Best Documentary honors at the Hollywood International Moving Pictures film Festival, Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards and a Bronze Medal at the Global Independent Film Awards. Bound Fists also went on to win an Award of Merit at the IndieFest Film Awards, a Gold Award at the California Film Awards, and an Award of Excellence at the Impact Docs Film Festival. It was also an official selection of the Roma Cinema Doc Festival, Newark International Film Festival, MartialCon/Action on Film Festival and Miami Independent Film Festival. The documentary additionally won a Platinum Film Award at the 2016 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards.[24]

Release

The full Born Warriors Trilogy was released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2016.[25] A special 4 Disc Deluxe Edition was released in 2017.

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References
  1. Myanmar’s fighting art of Lethwei Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  2. Thant, Myo and Nyein Ba If he bleeds, Stop hitting him: Burma’s MyanmaLethwei The Dangerous but Curiously humane sport of farmers and peasants. Black Belt Magazine November 1974 Vol 12 Number 11 pages 52-55 Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  3. Giordano, Vincent Born Warriors: Fighting for Survival Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  4. James Born Warriors: Bare-Knuckle Evolution Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  5. Xegarra, Guillermo Burmese Odyssey: An Interview with Vincent Giordano Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  6. Xegarra, Guillermo Burmese Odyssey: Vincent Giordano's Born Warriors Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  7. Born Warriors: Part Two Lethwei Training Routines Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  8. Born Warriors Redux Part One: Modern Training Camps Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  9. Born Warriors Redux: A New Era for an Ancient Sport Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  10. The award winning Born Warriors documentaries capture these changes in intimate detail Barnes, James Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  11. Xegarra, Guillermo Burmese Odyssey Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  12. Celli, Camus Music Interview Born Warriors Redux: Bound Fists Bonus Feature DVD/Blu Ray November 2017 Release
  13. Born Warriors: Documentarian Vincent Giordano Interview Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  14. “Born Warriors” Documentary Release Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  15. The Vanishing Flame Report # 43: Back to Burma August 6, 2014 Underground newsletter Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  16. The Vanishing Flame: A Filmmaker’s Journey to Document the Endangered Martial Arts of Asia Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  17. Tellipier, John Highlighting the SE Asian Arts Black Belt Magazine January 2012 Volume 50 Number 01 page 12
  18. Jacobs, Mark A Night at the Museum Black Belt October 2011 Volume 49 Number 10 page 36
  19. A rare look inside Burma's Martial Traditions Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  20. The Ancient Art of Bare Knuckle Fighting Muay Thaimes Vol VI, No.1 Spring 2012 Muay Thaimes Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  21. 2014 Myanmar Film Festival of Los Angeles is on September 13 & 14, 2014! Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  22. Born Warriors to Introduce Lethwei to the World Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  23. Action On Film 2015 Film Nominations Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  24. 2016 Award-Winning independent Documentary Films Retrieval date 22 December 2016
  25. Warriors: A Journey Inside Myanmar’s Ancient Fighting Tradition Retrieval date 22 December 2016
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