The UK’s premier martial arts and action film festival returns to Stratford Picture House 10th-11th September!
The Fighting Spirit Film Festival, the UK’s best Martial Arts and action film festival has announced its return to London for 2022 - And The Comic Crush will be there!
The festival arrives at its long-time home, the Stratford Picture House, on Saturday 10th September and continues Sunday 11th September, with some amazing classic and new films, documentaries and short films. And The Comic Crush will be there on both days, showcasing the best in action-packed new comics and back issues.
Take a look at the features the festival will be showing blow and at the brilliant poster designed for the festival:
WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972)
Bruce Lee | 1972 | Mandarin with English subtitles | Cert 18 | 99 mins
A man visits his relatives at their restaurant in Italy and has to help them defend against brutal gangsters harassing them.
In a special FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY screening – Bruce Lee’s directorial debut, WAY OF THE DRAGON, joins the lineup at this year’s FSFF. Having smashed box office records throughout Southeast Asia with THE BIG BOSS and FIST OF FURY, Lee rejected further scripts from Golden Harvest, instead launching CONCORD PRODUCTION and taking the cast and crew to Rome to film in 1972. The result features one of the most iconic cinematic fights of all time – Bruce Lee v Chuck Norris in the Roman Colosseum. A classic from the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, and not to be missed in this all-too-rare screening. You’ll kick yourself for not going! This screening is also supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office.
new york ninja (1984 / 2021)
John Liu, Kurtis Spieler | 1984/2021 | English | Cert 18 | 93 mins
Originally shot in 1984 and not finished until 2021, New York Ninja is about a sound technician for a news station (John Liu) who becomes a vigilante ninja in New York City after his pregnant wife is murdered.
From the strange genius of Taekwondo super-kicker John Liu Chung-Liang, comes the 1980s genre classic that almost never was: NEW YORK NINJA. Hot off a home run of hits at Seasonal Films (SECRET RIVALS 1 & 2, SNUFF BOTTLE CONNECTION), Liu followed in the footsteps of Bruce Lee as director/star. But in 1984, amid production issues – his American debut would be lost in development hell..until now! Vinegar Syndrome has unearthed a true lost film: reconstructing from 35mm film reels – without script materials or audio (a newly recorded voice track stands in for the original performances) – they have revived the Ninja-infused madness of NEW YORK NINJA. Biohazard suit not required.
SURVIVING bOKATOR
(2018)
Mark Bochsler | 2018 | Cambodian with English subtitles | Cert 15 | 97 mins (Documentary)
A genocide survivor leads a team of youths on a mission to revive Cambodia's ancient martial art and win an international competition. Bokator was nearly eradicated by the Khmer Rouge 40 years ago and was feared extinct. Filmed over 5 years, this powerful award-winning film is a unique look into a post-war people's efforts to reclaim traditional identity and find their place in a modern world.
Surviving Bokator is a powerful story about reclaiming cultural identity and building bridges between generations. Filmed over five years, it tells of the struggle of an older genocide survivor (Grandmaster San Kim Sean) to resurrect the ancient Cambodian martial art of Bokator — virtually lost during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime — and preserve it for the nation’s youth. Through this journey, the film gets to the very core of the generational fracture happening in Cambodian communities around the world today, between genocide survivors determined to revive and maintain traditional ways, and Cambodia’s youth looking to forge a new path forward. There will also be a Bokator demonstration before the screening and a Q&A with director Mark Boschler afterwards.
