“Kids fight” follows the lives of children fighting in MMA
The documentary “Kids Fight”, directed by Sarah Tareen follows the lives of children in Charar Pind and how mixed martial arts might be the very fight for their lives.
Filmmaker and MMA Fighter Sarah Tareen is directing the documentary “Kids Fight” wherein she highlights the children of a little known Charar Pind and how Mixed Martial Arts(MMA) is not just a combat sport but a fight for their lives.
The documentary, produced by UpNorth Film, features the 'peace through sports' initiative of Pakistani -American MMA fighter Bashir Ahmad. The camera rolls through the dusty playground and park to enter the Shaheen Academy which is located at the end of an alley in a basement, where Pakistan MMA pioneer, Bashir Ahmed, is promoting the philosophy of 'peace through sports.' Bashir explains,
“This is where we hope to inspire and motivate kids and teens to be the best version of themselves as role models and leaders, hoping to use the power of martial arts to change the lives of the poor and disadvantaged kids of Charrar Pind. Some come from poor but stable homes, and too many others have lives more like a stray animal than someone’s child. We are martial artists. One of the key signs of a martial artist is to stand up for injustice. To protect those who are weak. If you do not make this a part of your identity, if you do not remind your fellow martial artists of the duty, if you do not teach this to your students, then you are not a martial artist. As martial artists, we need to start speaking out, we need to start putting our time, resources and hearts into helping the societies and communities we live in.”
Sarah Tareen also heads the 'Heroes for a day' campaign in collaboration with INSIDE OUT, which is an art project that characterizes personal identity through pieces of artistic work. It is a global platform for people to share their untold stories, and showcase what they stand for, through their portraits. Adding about her documentary project, she said:
“I have been following these children closely through my work and saw their resilience and life is hard on them and yet they have their own micro society. The project aims to shed the light on children who are living in poverty with limited opportunities, in order to create awareness, giving voice to them under the banner of peace through sports. The idea of the campaign is to paste portraits of the young fighters in the community for people to see them as heroes of their own destinies rather than as victims of their circumstances.”
