USQ Artsworx What's On Friday at the Flicks 2018 Vol. 1 | Page 4

WHEN WE WERE KINGS
16 March 6.30pm
Documentary, Sport
1h 28min | USA | 1996
Filmed primarily in 1974 When We Were Kings
documents the lead up and eventual fight between
George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, but it wasn’t
completed and released until 1996. Director Leon
Gast showed immense patience, having to navigate
an array of legal issues and civil suits involving the
fight’s financers before being able to complete the
film almost 22 years later.
Featuring footage and significant interviews from the
time, the documentary emphasises the questionable
ethics around the fight’s location, the relationship
between Ali and locals, as well as footage from ‘Black
Woodstock’ the soul music festival accompanying
the fight.
Claiming the 1996 Academy Award for Best
Documentary Feature, When We Were Kings
provides insights into the life of one of the most
famous boxers of all time.
Trivia bite: Foreman and Ali went on stage with
director, Gast, to accept the film’s Academy Award
and to show the world they had made peace – Forman
even helped Parkinson’s-stricken Ali up the stairs.
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