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This is the story of World Champion Boxer, Kassim "The Dream" Ouma - born in Uganda, kidnapped by the rebel army and trained to be a child soldier at the age of 6. When the rebels took over the government, Kassim became an army soldier who was forced to commit many horrific atrocities, making him both a victim and perpetrator. He soon discovered the army’s boxing team and realized the sport was his ticket to freedom. After 12 years of warfare, Kassim defected from Africa and arrived in the United States. Homeless and culture shocked, he quickly rose through the boxing ranks and became Junior Middleweight Champion of the World.

Kassim, now age 27, seems to have obtained the American Dream with his jovial nature, fame and hip hop lifestyle. As Kassim trains for his next world title fight against Jermain Taylor in Little Rock Arkansas, keeping his demons out of the ring becomes increasingly difficult. His desires to reunite with family in Uganda intensify when Kassim’s only hope for a safe return is a military pardon from the president and government responsible for his abduction.

From the director of The Devil’s Miner, Kief Davidson received unprecedented access to Kassim Ouma during a pivotal time in the boxer’s career. Filmed in cinema verite, current events are skillfully woven in with brutal revelations of a stolen childhood. The parallels reveal a complex and haunted fighter surviving against incredible odds.
Coming Soon KIEF DAVIDSON – Director

Kief Davidson is an award-winning feature film and documentary director born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His previous film, "The Devil’s Miner", World Premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2005 and won over a dozen awards at International Film Festivals including Tribeca, Hot Docs, Chicago, Woodstock, Jerusalem and Mexico City. He received the prestigious DGA Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Directing and won the coveted PBS Independent Lens Audience Award. “The Devil’s Miner” screened theatrically in over 140 cinemas across Europe and the USA.

Kief has also directed and produced documentaries for The Discovery Channel, ABC News, PBS, ARTE and A&E. As a narrative filmmaker, Kief wrote and directed the dark comedy, "Minor Details", an independent feature film starring Peter Sarsgaard and Larry Pine. He began his filmmaking career in 1993 as editor on the Academy Award-nominated documentary, "Blood Ties: The Life and Work of Sally Mann." He is the recipient of two Emmy nominations for his work with National Geographic and earned the International Monitor Award for Best Editing on the journalistic film, "What's News?".

For more information, visit:
www.kiefdavidson.com
Produced & Directed by
Kief Davidson

Producer
Liz Silver

Executive Producer
Luke Thornton

Executive Producers
Forest Whitaker
Keisha Whitaker

Executive Producer
Joshua Green

Co-Producer
Kathleen M. Davidson

Co-Producer
Tom Moran

Director of Photography
Tony Molina Jr.

Editors
Tony Breuer
Kief Davidson

Music
Leo Heiblum
Jacobo Lieberman
Andres Solis

Production Manager : Uganda
Victor Ochen

Production Manager : USA
Sybille Herwig

Music Supervisor
Nnamdi Moweta
Robert Singerman
French Music Export Office

Music Consultant
Joe Rudge

Location Sound
Mike Norman
Anthony Bensusan

First Assistant Camera
Mike Norman

Second Assistant Camera
Rich Homa

Additional Camera
Kief Davidson

Gaffer
Shawn Helgedalen

Best Boy Electric
Chuck Linkes

2nd Electric
Simon Cho

Grip
Chad Eshbough

Rigger
Dave Gonzalez

Additional Location Sound
Randy Bickler
Matt Kelly
Haven McKinney
Eric Moorman

Driver
David Blackman

Still Photography
Nic Johnson
Tony Molina Jr.

Set Production Assistants
Grant Barbierto
Joshua Ballinger
Andrew Gonzalez
Ricardo de Laveaga
Dylan Matlock

Office Production Assistants
Mardana M. Mayginnes
Camilla Martins

Translators
Lutalo Sekanyo
Robin Okello

Additional Editing
Jason Knight

Assistant Editors
Chris Zeller
Mike Escher
Joshua Ballinger

2nd Assistant Editors
Mark Cummins
Dustin Slaughter

Graphic Design
Kenneth Brady

Title Design
Neil Huxley

Compositors
Chris Zeller
Matt Kelly

Web Design / Additional Graphics
Nic Johnson

Post Production Services
Digital Film Tree

Online Editor
Lakan de Leon

Post Supervision
Edvin Mehrabyan
Ramy Katrib

Color Correction Services
Encore Video Hollywood

Colorist
Arnold Ramm

Offline Edit Services
Zebra Productions

Post Sound
The Dub Stage

Re-Recording Mixers
Marti D. Humphrey, CAS
Chris M. Jacobson, CAS

Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Design
Chris M. Jacobson

Sound Editing
Brad Semenoff

Production Legal Services
Victor Cook
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Seltz

Distribution Advisory and Legal Services
Andrew Hurwitz
Schreck, Rose, Dapello, Adams & Hurwitz LLP

Transcribers
Joshua Ballinger
Chloe Camonayan
Mark Cummins
Eboni Eldridge
Erin Fox
Tristan Franz
Khalid Khan
Alyson Humphrey
Christina Jankovic
Lorraine Jones
Ricardo de Laveaga
Andi Lim
Mayumi Maruyana
Mardana M. Mayginnes
Wilson McCourtney
Danny Newall
Emily Seeboonruang
Dustin Slaughter

Musicians
Alexis Ruiz : marimba and vibraphone
Rodrigo Duarte : cello
Ramón Guiérrez : requinto jarocho
Jacobo Lieberman : electric and acoustic guitar, banjo requinto, jarocho

Programming
Andres Solis, Jacobo Lieberman and Leonardo Heiblum

A Believe Media and Urban Landscapes film production

In Co-Production with
Monaco Film Hamburg
ARTE/ZDF Enterprises

IFC Films has acquired Kassim the Dream for Theatrical, VOD, TV and DVD release.

Kassim will open in NYC at the IFC Center starting June 5th, 2009.

Kassim will open Los Angeles starting May 15th 2009 at Laemmle Theatres.

Kassim has won awards at the following spring 2009 film festivals: Ft. Lauderdale International, Ann Arbor and Gasparilla film festivals.

GQ Magazine and Forest Whitaker host a special screening and fund raiser for Hope North at the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood.

The IDA - International Documentary Association has nominated Kassim the Dream for Distinguished Documentary Achievement – Best Documentary. Fellow nominees include, Man on Wire, Waltz with Bashir, Stranded, and Young @ Heart.

AFI Fest — Kassim wins the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at AFI Fest in Los Angeles.

IDFA — Kassim The Dream wins the DOC U Award at IDFA Amsterdam.

AFI/Discovery Silver Docs - Kassim wins the AFM/Silverdocs award.

Kassim fall lineup festivals include: Hamptons, Woodstock, Chicago International, St. Louis International and others.

WORLD PREMIERE
Kassim The Dream had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival
April 21st - May 3rd, 2008.



Kassim will open in NYC at the IFC Center starting June 5th, 2009.

Kassim will open Los Angeles starting May 15th 2009 at Laemmle Theatres.

Little Rock Film Festival
May 10-16, 2009

Atlanta Film Festival
April 16 - 25th, 2009

AFI Dallas International Film Festival
March 2 - April 2, 2009

Philadelphia International Film Festival
March 26 - April 7th, 2009

Cleveland International Film Festival
March 20 - 30th, 2009

Montreal Human Rights Festival
March 22 - April 12, 2009

Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival
March 7-15th, 2009

7th edition duFestival du film et Forum sur les Droits Humains
March 6-15, 2009

Gasparilla Film Festival - Tampa Bay
Feb 26th - March 1, 2009

ZagrebDox Film Festival
Feb 23- March 1, 2009

Watch Docs International Film Festival - Poland
Dec 5-14th, 2009

Santa Fe Film Festival
December 3-7th, 2008

IDFA Amsterdam - International Premiere
November 20th-30th, 2008

St. Louis International Film Festival
November 13th - 23rd 2008

Cucalorus Film Festival-North Carolina
November 12-15th 2008

AFI Los Angeles Film Festival
October 30th - November 9th, 2008

U.S. Sports Film Festival - Philadelphia
October 23rd-26th, 2008

San Francisco Documentary Film Festival
October 17th - October 30th, 2008

Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival
October 13 - Nov 12th, 2008

Chicago International Film Festival
October 16 - 19, 2008

Hamptons International Film Festival
October 15 - 19, 2008

Woodstock Film Festival
October 1 - 5, 2008

Port Townsend Film Festival
September 26th - 28th, 2008

Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival
September 11th-14th, 2008

AFI / Silverdocs
Friday, June 20, 10:15PM
Sunday, June 22, 5:15PM

WORLD PREMIERE
Tribeca Film Festival
April 30th - May 8th, 2008

CONTRIBUTE AND LEARN MORE

The Filmmakers support the following organizations for their proven track record of raising awareness and services for children in Africa.

Child Soldier Rehabilitation
  • Hope North
  • United Nations Office of Children and Armed Conflict
  • World Vision
Political Advocacy
  • Guluwalk
  • The Name Campaign
  • Resolve Uganda
Emergency Medical Services for Children
  • African Youth Initiative Network
  • The Next Right Thing
Sustainability Projects
  • Crop to Cup
  • Global Goods Partners
  • Strong Heart Fellowship

HOST AN EDUCATIONAL SCREENING

Contact info@kassimthedream.com for inquiries.

PRESS KIT

  • Kassim The Dream Press Kit

IN THE PRESS

  • 2008/04/24 - Variety Review
  • 2008/04/23 - Indie Wire, Interview with Kief Davidson
  • 2008/04/13 - Kassim The Dream in NY Magazine
  • 2008/04/07 - Tribeca Press Release
The articles are aggregated here in one PDF

PICTURES

  • Kassim Dry Lake Bed
  • Kassim Desert
  • Kassim in Flags
  • Film Still 01 - 1920X1080 JPG
  • Film Still 02 - 1920X1080 JPG
  • Film Still 04 - 1920X1080 JPG
  • Film Still 05 - 1920X1080 JPG


  • Kief Davidson photo

Director: Kief Davidson / Urban Landscapes Productions
www.kiefdavidson.com
Email: info@kiefdavidson.com


Production Company: Believe Media
1040 N. Las Palmas Ave
Los Angeles CA 90038
www.believemedia.com


International Sales
Roco Films International
Annie Roney — Managing Director
80 Liberty Ship Way, Suite 5
Sausalito, CA 94965
415.332.6471 tel
415.332.6798 fax
Email: info@rocofilms.coms


Publicity
David Magdael & Associates, Inc.
David Magdael
Winston F. Emano
600 West Ninth Street, Suite 704
Los Angeles, CA90015
Office: 213.624.7827
Fax: 213.488.0398
Cell: 213.399.1434
Email: dmagdael@tcdm-associates.com
Email: wemano@tcdm-associates.com
www.tcdm-associates.com

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