Doctalk: Kassim the Dream

A haunting but touching story of a child soldier turned champion boxer   

While his childhood was lost, Ouma found an outlet on the army’s boxing team and began to excel at some

thing hecould feel good about. Fast forward to today and he is now the #1 Light Middleweight Wrestling Champion of the world. This film produced by Forest Whitaker documents Ouma’s amazing and unlikely life story from child soldier to world champion. The documentary touches upon the hard times Kassim endured, mixes in all the good things that have happened in his life so far, and explores his need to journey back to Uganda.

Another thing to touch upon with this documentary is the camera work. From the B-roll shots, to the panoramic shots of Uganda, all the way down to the filming of Kassim’s boxing match and making it look LIVE, each shot is different than the next. Finally, there were multiple moments in the documentary when Kassim was talking about his past, which stirred up a lot of emotion. The camera captured that moment by doing an up close and personal shot. It was clear that the director’s goals to have Kassim’s emotion radiate off of him and on to the audience…he did a successful job. It is no wonder this documentary was officially selected for the Tribeca Film Festival, was the winner of the US Sports Film Award, winner of AFI Fest, and many others.

This heartfelt documentary stirs up many emotions and raises many questions about the world we live in. From the importance of relationships and culture, the horrors that humans are capable of, to the impact of following a dream and believing that things can be better – “Kassim the Dream” is a documentary in which people everywhere can learn much from.

Weslee Yacker

Sources:  Nytimes, Motherjones