Saviours (2007)

Passionately filmed for two years with no budget, SAVIOURS is the award winning debut feature-length film. The film is a cross between Hoop Dreams and Rocky - it's an intimate, gripping and often humourous documentary following three young boxers from the same Dublin boxing club as they fight for a better life both inside and outside the ring. Shot in a rough, tough area of Dublin, the film shows a different side of Ireland, one not seen in films. The film is set in St. Saviours Olympic Boxing Academy, a safe haven amongst the ghettoes of Dublin's north inner city. There, under the guidance of John McCormack - the wise-cracking Dub and former British Professional Boxing Champion - and his team of canny coaches, the three boxers aim for victory in the Irish Senior Championships. However, boxing is only half the tale and in this candid documentary it soon becomes clear that there is more to these youngsters' stories than meets the eye. Darren Sutherland could be a poster boy for the New Ireland - he's young, handsome, talented and of mixed race - his father hailing from the Caribbean and his mother from blue collar Dublin suburbs but despite Darren's considerable boxing talent he wants to quit boxing for his studies. Abdul Hussein, an asylum seeker from Ghana, has a bigger struggle on his hands as he fights the authorities in an attempt to gain refugee status. Dean Murphy, from the inner city flats adjacent to the club, sees boxing as his way out and wants to win Olympic Gold. However, injury after injury knocks him back. SAVIOURS paints a vividly candid portrait of a small inner city boxing club and the roller coaster lives of three of its young men as they strive to fulfill their ambitions in life. It was initially supposed to be a short term project but as the lives of the boxers progressed the stories became more and more interesting; Darren gives up boxing but then makes a momentous comeback, Abdul receives a telling letter from the immigration office and Dean suffers an injury when on a high.