The Coalition to Legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York is very pleased to announce that the film we have been working on with Kahleem Poole - Tejada for nearly a year now, New York Mixed Martial Arts, has been accepted as an Official Selection in the First Annual Bronx Week Film Festival!
This is a momentous occasion for MMA in New York as we have struggled to reach the mainstream media with our message that MMA needs to be legalized and regulated in our state. This festival offers an excellent opportunity to reach average New Yorkers, the New York political elite, and promote the sport we love in a fair and balanced light.
This first annual festival runs in tandem with Bronx Week. Olympia Film Locations, Inc has been tasked by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr, to establish, coordinate, and manage this new festival. The Coalition to Legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York is honored to be a part of it.
Bronx Week runs from May 12th - 22nd and concludes with the Bronx Ball, a black tie fundraiser for the Bronx Overall Community Development Corporation, on Saturday May 21st. The film festival will run from May 16th - 19th, with a concluding gala on the 19th at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. The top three short films will be honored.
New York Mixed Martial Arts, is currently scheduled to open the festival on Monday, May 16th!
For more information about the film, please visit:
http://nymmanow.blogspot.com/p/new-york-mma-film.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp0F91oPzCU
New York Mixed Martial Arts
(Kahl One Film Productions & The Coalition to Legalize MMA in NY, 2011)
New York Mixed Martial Arts is an enthralling documentary that provides a back seat view of the grass roots struggle to legalize and regulate the professional sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) in New York State. New York is one of a handful of states in which MMA is still outlawed; sacrificing jobs and millions of dollars in revenue to neighboring states and countries since 1997. In his first feature length film, Bronx native, martial artist and filmmaker Kahleem Poole – Tejada presents an intimate account of the struggle to legalize MMA through the lens of one amateur fighter’s (Bradley Desir) quest to turn professional under the guidance of his coach (Stephen Koepfer). Viewers are offered a rare glimpse behind the curtain of the political, sometimes frightening, and always exciting world of mixed martial arts.
PRODUCER:
Stephen Koepfer
DIRECTOR, DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, AND EDITOR:
Kahleem Poole-Tejada
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR:
Levan Reginald Hines
CAMERA:
Robert Billings
STARRING:
Bradley Desir
Stephen Koepfer
Tyga Maclin
Eddie Goldman
SPECIAL APPEARANCES BY:
Josh Barnett
Gesias Calvacante
Fedor Emilianenko
Justin Klein
Tara LaRosa
New York Assemblyman Dean Murray
Nestor Marte
New York City Councilman Joel Rivera
Bas Rutten
Oleg Savitsky
Frank Shamrock
Mike Straka
Dana White
