Wrestling has always occupied a special place in Iranian
culture. It's more than a sport; it's a way of life, deeply rooted
in Iranian mythology and religion. Despite the lack of appropriate
facilities, funding and governmental support, Iran has produced
many world champions and their Olympic wrestling team have won
medals at every Olympics since 1948. Despite the successes of the
sport, almost all of Iran's wrestlers are from the slums of Tehran
and wrestling is one of the only ways open to them to gain respect
and pride for themselves and their families. 2000 kids a year hope
to make it to the championships, but only a handful will.
Too young the hero follows three young hopeful wrestlers through
their dramatic months of preparing for the biggest event of their
lives, the world championship in Hungary.
Ayoub, a 16 year old orphan, from a small village in the south
of Iran, buys fruits and vegetables from the local market and sells
them on the roadside between remote provinces. He often sleeps by
the roadside, beside his stock, for nights on end until he has made
enough money to support himself and his dream of becoming the next
Olympic Champion.
Behrouz and Alireza both live a difficult life, to balance
training and work, they often have to give up studying and
sometimes fail to reach their dreams, due to financial difficulties
or injuries caused by their diet and the unsupervised training that
they underwent at an early age.
Through the wrestling federation of Iran, we have been able to
gain unprecedented access to Iran's national youth wrestling team,
, and the private lives of the hopeful, young wrestlers. This rare
documentary from Iran will take the audience on an astonishing
journey following the ups and downs of a group of young, determined
wrestlers fighting to become the champion.
This project has received seed funding and support from the Iran Heritage
Foundation.
Please help make this documentary happen- visit our Indiegogo
site:
http://www.indiegogo.com/Producer-1309441922