FIGHT LIKE A GIRL Wins at The South African Independent Film Festival
Fight Like A Girl took home the prize for BEST FEATURE FILM at the 2023 South African Independent Film Festival held in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
IFFI; ‘Fight Like a Girl’ Chronicles Journey of Congolese Woman
“Fight Like a Girl,” directed by Matthew Leutwyler, takes audiences on a poignant journey through the life of a young Congolese woman who discovers a new purpose in the boxing ring after escaping the clutches of an illegal mineral mine. This compelling film is currently featured in the prestigious ‘Cinema of the World’ category at the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
"Fight Like A Girl" Nabs 8 Nominations At The African Movie Academy Awards
The Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) nominees for 2023 have been announced, and the Rwandan film ‘Fight Like a Girl,’ starring stars Malaika Uwamahoro, Kennedy Jones Mazimpaka, and Arthur Nkusi, is among the nominees.
Shot in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo over two months, the film directed by American film director and screenwriter Matthew Leutwyler, has been nominated for multiple awards, including Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Soundtrack.
South Africa’s Ama Qamata, best known for her role as Buhle Ndaba Khumalo in the hit Netflix series ‘Blood & Water’, is nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role and is the main character in ‘Fight Like a Girl’.
Clarck Ntambwe, who also stars in the movie, is nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, while Antoine Nshimiyimana is nominated for Best Achievement in Production Design.
‘Blood and Water’ Star Ama Qamata to Play Boxer in ‘Fight Like a Girl’
Rising South African actress Ama Qamata, the star of Netflix’s breakout hit Blood and Water, has signed on to star as a female boxer in Fight Like a Girl, an upcoming feature from writer/director Matthew Leutwyler (The River Why, Uncanny).
Qamata will star alongside Nigerian actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Godzilla vs. Kong, Starz TV’s Black Sails) as a young Congolese woman forced to work in an illegal mineral mine who manages to escapes her captors and find a new life for herself after joining an all-women boxing club in the border city of Goma.
MOVIEMAKER MAGAZINE - Disconnected Is a Show About the Quarantine - Shot During the Quarantine
Matthew Leutwyler and Anton Laines remotely producing two scenes simultaneously through Sony cameras attached via AJA HDMI U-Tap. Erik and Jaime Palladino's house in Los Angeles. Jenn Liu and Brandon Scott in Palm Springs.
VOYAGE LA INTERVIEW - Matthew Leutwyler
Thanks for sharing your story with us Matthew. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
In June of 2012, I took time off from my production company and with my friend Nichols St. Louis, traveled to Rwanda to volunteer at the Noel Orphanage in Gysenyi. The trip’s impact on my life cannot be easily explained. Nearly 600 children were living in the orphanage and though the facility is run by some truly caring people they are tremendously understaffed and lacking in access to food, clothing and education. Surprisingly the spirit of these children is off the charts.
Most people know of Rwanda because of the 1994 genocide and so I think they would be surprised to hear that the country has done a remarkable job of healing its wounds and turning towards the future with a surprising measure of optimism. The government has moved to eliminate the labels associated with a tribal identity and successfully rallied the country under the unifying Rwandan banner. MORE...
FILM INTERNATIONAL: An Artistic “Journey”: Filmmaker Matthew Leutwyler on Uncanny
AUSTIN CHRONICLE: The Future is Uncanny Director Matthew Leutwyler on AIs, charity, and surgery
Deadline Hollywood: Alex Karpovsky Circling Male Lead In ‘Claire’, Opposite Jena Malone
Girls alum Alex Karpovsky is in advanced negotiations to star in Claire, Rilean Pictures’ remake of Éric Rohmer’s 1982 French comedy Le Beau Mariage (“The Good Marriage”). Karpovsky would star opposite Jena Malone in a story centered on an eccentric twentysomething woman living in Long Island with her aunt and teenage cousin. Fed up with her married lover, a painter named Simon, Claire decides to get married herself, deciding upon a man she barely knows (Karpovsky), her best friend Katherine’s cousin. An absurd and humiliating quest to find love and a husband, but not necessarily in that order, follows. The narrative feature debut from director Dori Oskowitz, Claire is written Juan Iglesias and Jonathan Saba. Iglesias and Saba are producing, along with Accelerated Matter’s Matt Leutwyler. MORE...