Katanga - The Female Boxers of Kampala’s Slums
Katanga is one of the largest slums in Kampala and home to a group of vigilante female fighters. This film is a retelling Hellen Baleke’s story, a young woman living in Katanga who turned to her local boxing gym after being brutally assaulted in her neighbourhood. She went on to become the first female boxer in all of Uganda to compete professionally on an international level. Now Hellen and her group of female boxers act as protectors in Katanga, taking revenge on assaults in the slum when police are too afraid to intervene.
Format: 16mm, hi8, Digital
Crew:
Directed by Dwight Jantzi & Robert Mentov
Produced by S.J. Finlay
Executive Producer - Jeremy Power Regimbal
Composer - Aled Roberts
Cinematography - Robert Mentov
Associate Editor - Howie Cheung
Sound Design - Nikolai Efimov
Digital Camera Operator - S.J. Finlay
Local Fixers:
Shafick
Joy
Innocent
Trinity
Ken
Special thanks:
Hellen and her family
Wakaliwood and Ramon Film Productions
Rhino Boxing Club
Project Details:
Katanga is a 16mm docu-fiction film set in East Africa and based on the true story of Hellen Baleke, a woman living in one of the largest slums in Kampala who was assaulted and decided to take up boxing in order to defend herself. Although she was initially prevented from joining the boxing club due to being a female, she was eventually let in and went on to become the most well known female boxer in Uganda.
Our team spent several weeks on location in the slum of Katanga collaborating with Hellen and her fellow boxers to craft and produce an honest depiction of their experiences.
