The brilliant Romanian-Romani actress Alina Serban and the extremely gifted director Huseyin Tabak have teamed up to bring a powerful, inspiring boxing story to the big screen. The plot follows a Roma single mom who uses everything she‘s got to provide for her kids. She is determined to give them a good start in life in their new home in a foreign country, Germany, and she’ll have to box her way up to that promise.

Synopsis

It‘s hard not to like young Ali. She has the heart of a lion, is proud, doesn‘t complain and for her two children she works herself to the bone at her job as a cleaner in Hamburg‘s famous Ritze underground club. But deep in her heart Ali carries a wound: after she became an unmarried mother in Romania, she was disowned by her father. Until then, she had been considered the Gipsy Queen, the queen of all Roma. One day Ali discovers the boxing ring in the Ritze‘s basement and gets to watch a fight which brings back memories of boxing training with her father. Fully equipped and disappointed by life, Ali vents all her fury on the punching bag. Tanne, an ex-boxer and the club’s owner, sees her and recognises her talent. She starts to box again and sees the chance of a better life. A brilliant performance by Alina Serban.

Festivals & Awards

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2019 – World Premiere, Best Actress, Estonian Ecumenical Jury Prize | Austrian Film Award, 2020 – Best Actor | German Screen Actors Awards, 2020 – Best Leading Actress | Guenter Rohrbach Filmpreis, 2020 – Best Actress | Turkiye Almanya Film Festival Nurnberg, 2021 – Best Actress | Central European Film Festival Timișoara, 2021 – Best Director

Country: Germany, Austria Year: 2019 Length: 112 min Director/Screenwriter: Huseyin Tabak Editing: Christoph Loidl Cinematography: Lukas Gnaiger Cast: Alina Serban, Tobias Moretti, Irina Kurbanova, Catrin Striebeck Production: Danny Krausz – Dor Film-West, Dor Film Dutch Premiere