A Knock Out

A film by Tessa Boerman and Samuel Reiziger

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SYNOPSIS

Boxing champion Michele Aboro grew up in South London, where life for a girl was never easy, let alone for a mixed-race lesbian girl. Thanks to her tenacious spirit and an uncanny talent for combat sports, she put her difficult past behind her and managed to sign a contract with the biggest boxing promoter in Europe. She won all 21 fights, 18 of them with a knockout - an exceptional achievement in women’s boxing. But despite her spectacular record in the ring, her career came to a sudden halt when her promoter broke her contract under the belief that she was not "promotable."

Refusing to vamp up her image and pose naked in magazines, this undefeated world champion was abandoned by an industry more interested in selling sex than sport. A KNOCK OUT interweaves Aboro’s personal story with interviews with boxers whose wild success strikes a painful contrast with Aboro's struggles. Searching for logic behind Aboro’s case, this poignant documentary captures a universal story of fighting for one's identity and offers a probing look at the intersection of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and the increased commercialization of women's sports.

PRESS

“Demonstrates how hard it is not to compromise what you stand for in the face of sponsors’ demands, the importance of remaining yourself and following your passion.”

International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam

“Tessa Boerman and Samuel Reiziger outline, in an almost classically tragic life story of Michele Aboro, an image of a hyper commercial and frantic circus of professional boxers.”

NRS Handelsblad

“A compelling and revealing story.”

Vrij Nederland Magazine

“…weaves together a compelling mix of news footage, highlights of boxing matches [and] interviews with this articulate and extraordinarily gifted athlete…Highly recommended.”

Educational Media Reviews Online

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

Rhode Island International Film Festival
Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Festival Vrouwenfilms Assen
Out On Film - Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam (IDFA)
New Festival- New York Gay & Lesbian Film Fest
Inside Out - Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival
Out on Film - Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival
Outfest Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
San Francisco Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Tessa Boerman

Tessa Boerman is an Dutch independent documentary filmmaker, programmer and cultural advisor. Her work focuses on issues of representation, diversity and inclusion. With the Dutch Directors Guild, she advocated for cultural diversity and inclusion in the Dutch film and TV industry. She has made two powerful documentaries that highlight different aspects of beauty, ideals and belonging. A KNOCK OUT looks at the life of Michele Aboro, a black lesbian boxer who was very successful in the ring but was told that she wasn’t sexy enough outside of it; the promoters wanted to see a sexy vamp and terminated her contract early. Her second documentary, ZWART BELICHT, explores the historic representation of black women in paintings of Rubens. For International Film Festival Rotterdam, she programmed "Black Rebels," focusing on international films about and predominantly by black people navigating the cultural divide since the origin of cinema. (01/20)

Samuel Reiziger

Samuel Reiziger is a composer/musician and director of commercial videos. He worked as a researcher and programmaker for Reiziger in Muziek, an acclaimed music program on VPRO tv station. (03/05)

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