British born director, Bobby Razak, puts together a full-length movie documentary on the various aspects of the mixed martial arts world. The movie starts with an collaboration of various fights in a number of events such as the UFC, Pride, and Super Brawl. Razak also focuses on the Inoue Brothers, Egan and Enson, the monster and the wolf, Kevin Randleman and Eugene Jackson, and follows an American fighter to one of the origins of organization No-Holds-Barred action, Brazil and it's World Valetudo Championship. The film shows both the brutal reality of combat, while various fighters give their views and statements of man on man confrontations and the mentality of the fighters as well as their personal backgrounds and thoughts of the fighters who participate in these events. Composer Javier Mosley chose aggressive hip-hop and rock to masterfully match and enforce the intensity that is seen in the various matches. Razak and his small crew follow the day in the life of five NHB fighters to show fans the background of each fighter. The director gets these fighters to reveal their personalities outside of the ring and octagon. The viewers are introduced on how each fighter views NHB, how they approach fights, and the background and rules of mixed martial arts events. One of the most devastating fighters on the scene presently, Kevin "the Monster" Randleman reveals a shocking incident from his past and Eugene "the Wolf" Jackson takes the viewer through his neighborhood and what made him the man that he is. This film is extremely entertaining for all who enjoy watching mixed martial arts events and also could be viewed as a lesson to new potential fans. The action of the fights in combination with the upbeat music helps to stir emotions of all the viewers. The motivating views of the fighters raises the hairs on the arms of even the most distant person. A connection allowed Razak to show his film at the acclaimed Sundance film festival where people of all classes and interests were exposed to our sport. This film could bring in a new fan base as well as serve as a means to have critics of the sport view more than just the face value of violence, but also the professional athletes and human beings that participate in this growing sport.

The first American screening was held at Pipeline Café, a local sports bar and nightclub in Honolulu, the day after Super Brawl 20 on February 24, 2001. After the first viewing, I sat down with the director of "Rites of Passage," Bobby Razak to talk with him.

Full Contact Fighter: How long did it take you to film?
Bobby Razak: The conception of the idea came around two years ago, but the actual film was probably about one and a half, two, coming close to two years. The whole thing has been about two and a half years from concept to completed product.

FCF: What's your background? Do you practice martial arts, which peaked your interest to make this film?
BR: Absolutely. I've trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I kind of boxed when I was growing up. I was born and raised in London, so I've always done some kind of martial arts. I've had a couple of NHB fights, nothing special, like in London, like three or four times. I've had some NHB experience and I'm a big fan of the martial arts.

FCF: Where did you train Jiu-Jitsu in the UK or US?
BR: I've trained in the US with tons of people like…at the moment I'm training with Fernando Vasconcelos. He's a world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He teaches at the World Training Academy. He's a black belt under the Machados. At the moment, I'm training with him. I'm training with the Machados. I've trained with a few people.

FCF: Did you come to America before you started this production and that's where you got the idea for the film or did you already have the idea of the film in London?
BR: I've actually been involved in film work back as a PA [production assistant] at various companies for eight years now. I actually came to America eight years ago to be a film director, to be involved in movies so finally my dream is coming around now.

FCF: Any interesting experiences in Japan, Brazil, Japan, Hawaii, or the US mainland?
BR: Yeah, it's just been a great time all together. Some of the stuff I saw in Brazil is amazing. It's amazing people, very gregarious, very humble, some of the best people I've met in the world is through NHB, some of the most pleasant, some of the most non-egotistical people, some of the people that gave me the greatest time on this planet. I've met some of the greatest people from NHB around the world. I've had tons of great experiences, but the best have been meeting all these great athletes and hearing what they had to say about their lives because these people have a lot to say about who they are and where they came from so it was great to hear them.

FCF: You had all access to all these events as well as carrying your film crew with you. Did you have any difficult gaining this access with so many people?
BR: No problems at all. Everyone was great. The UFC was great. I want to give thanks to Bob Meyrowitz and James Wermer. I want to give thanks out to T. Jay Thompson, to Frederico Lapenda, to Sergio Baterelli, Kyoichi Kawasaki of Pride. All these people have been fantastic. They know I'm working for the sport, that I want to show the goodness and the greatness of the sport. So everyone's been great, no problems at all.

FCF: How did you find the financial backing to finance this film and travel all over or did you eat the costs yourself?
BR: Well, that's a story in itself there. Basically, I kind of financed it myself around like two and a half years ago and I ran out of money real quick so I met a couple of personal financial investors who were basically interested in the base content so I finished up the idea and those people took it to the next level. I had to pool several financial people. It was an expensive product to go all over the world, take a full crew with you. It's been expensive. I've had the blessing of having a couple of financers to cover those costs who believe in the project.

FCF: How big was your film crew that you took to all of the countries?
BR: We take myself, the director/producer, give myself a plug. I've got an excellent cinematographer Dave Sharples. We had to hire a small crew while we were in the various countries, translators, PR [public relations] people, people working with the tournament. So we have a crew that we take and we have a crew that we have there. I'm looking at like six or seven people.

FCF: Did you say that you had the film released at the Cannes film festival?
BR: No, it was the Sundance. I've been blessed. We just had an excellent viewing at the Sundance film festival and we got a great response. We packed out the place. We went out there and got a great street team. We put the word out there. We put the vibe out there and we got a great response at Sundance. We knew we weren't going to win anything because people are still trying to accept this sport at many levels and some people can't get beyond the violence. For people who could look beyond the violence and look beyond the action of it and find out the real stories of the individuals, you know we touched a lot of people there. A lot of people don't know who Kevin Randleman is, who Eugene Jackson is. A lot of people don't know what made Kevin the great champion he is. Now, you just don't become a champion just like that. It takes a lot of heart, dedication, and unfortunately, it takes a lot of fire and Kevin's had a lot of fire in him. Just being able to follow someone like Kevin and Eugene Jackson, it's been an amazing experience.

FCF: What does it take to get a film in the Sundance Film Festival?
BR: Connections. Plain and simple brother. Plain and simple. We were editing and we had a connection who knew someone inside there who could view the film for us and take it there and that was it. Actually, the people who allowed us at Sundance, I met them for like two minutes. They basically didn't even say a word to me. They just came and saw the copy and nodded their heads, "we'll be there," and that was it. It's a purely connectional base.

FCF: Do you have any plans for future films on this subject?
BR: I don't know. I'm a little burned out at the moment. This reality based documentary program has taken a lot of a toll on my life. I've had no life in the last two and a half years. I want to continue this series, but I've got like several other projects, which I'm doing. I'll probably be doing a narrative film in like six or eight months, possibly a documentary about a totally different subject. So, nothing in the immediate future, but I definitely would want to do something after I have a little break and just get away from it for a little bit. You have to remember I've been in editing for like around a year. I've been living, eating, sleeping this film so I just need a little break. Once I get a little break, I'm ready to go for "Rites of Passage 2." Yeah, I want to continue the series.

FCF: What do you think of the fighters as individuals and the similarities and differences of their personalities inside and outside of the octagon or ring?
BR: As I said earlier, the NHB fighters are some of the best individuals. This is the only sport where you find the most respectful, the most intelligent, and the most spiritually inclined people. All these athletes have been absolutely amazing, personality-wise. They don't talk trash about each other. I've never seen anyone angry. I've seen them tense before a fight, but no one's been angry towards me and I was pretty imposing at times. I was literally digging, digging, digging and they always treated me with respect and I gave them respect. They are phenomenal people. A lot of people don't know what it takes to be an NHB fighter. [It] takes a special kind of individual and a special kind of individual with a certain amount of respect, respect for the martial arts. These are the kind of people I encountered, just samurais, modern day samurais.

FCF: I don't want to give the movie away, but you have two surprises basically in the personal aspects of Randleman and Jackson as far as revealing some of their personal life experiences and tragedies growing up. Did you learn of these topics prior to your interview with them or did they just volunteer the information to you?
BR: I was pretty much on Randleman's and Eugene's back for about a year, everywhere Randleman went, everywhere Eugene went, I was there. Me and Randleman had a little bit of a rocky relationship at the beginning. I'm not too sure he knew where to take me. He just didn't know where I was coming from, maybe at the beginning and I just kind of suddenly showed up in his life and I was constantly there. He was like, "who is this guy?" As we progressed in our relationship, he felt more comfortable and he started opening up, opening up and being a good film maker is, once you see the individual opening up, you attack that particular weakness. I kind of attacked that point where he started opening up for him like the point where he talked about his youth. So, I kind of dug deep in there, being the film maker I am, and I was fortunate enough that he opened up and told me actually what he went through as an individual. When I heard that, it made me love the guy even more, you know. Look at him, martial arts has definitely been a saving grace for this guy. I'm so glad that he is able to exorcise some demons that were inside of him by letting the world know and maybe exorcising his spirits. It was a little tough. Me and Randleman was a little tough, but me and Jackson were cool from the beginning. I loved hanging with him and his family. Egan and Enson are my brothers. All those guys, we had a great relationship. I love everyone.

FCF: How long were you a fan of NHB and martial arts before you even thought of making this film?
BR: I'm like everyone else. I used to watch Bruce Lee films when I was growing up so Bruce Lee kind of turned me up to the martial arts. I kind of like going to the UFC's to watch Royce Gracie compete in UFC 1 and once I saw that, I just loved the sport. To me, this was like the ultimate testing ground and proving ground for someone's skills, spirit, fighting prowess, all mixed in one. I just feel sad that these guys don't get the kind of money that Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis does because to me, these athletes are way better than any boxer. Boxing just has eight hand techniques, combined head and body, but to be a world champion NHB fighter you have to have so many elements put together. I wish more of these guys got more money and more respect. I definitely see myself as an advocator of NHB and a spokesperson for NHB to speak to politicians, to speak to neighbors and say, "hey, these guys are real people, real athletes, give them respect, give them their money."

FCF: Staying on the same lines, since this documentary shows both the violent side as well as the personal side of NHB, do you feel that this film will be a help or hindrance to the pro-NHB movement because the movement is trying to push the sportive side of the sport and the film is showing the brutal side of it?
BR: Well, as Mark Coleman said, there's no need to absolutely sugar coat the sport. It is a violent sport in some respects. Every time you have to punch and kick someone, there are some violent aspects and repercussions, but no, we're here to show what it took for these individuals to become that. I wanted to show the dichotomy of life being an athlete and coming from a troubled background how the NHB can be used as a tool, just like boxing and basketball to take the person out of the ghetto, to take the person out of a bad environment and give them a chance and give them a future. Being a film maker, I wanted to show the realism out there and this is some of the stories and things that these athletes go through so I wanted to show everything. No, I don't think anything bad will happen from the film. I basically show this is what it is and it is an honorable sport and let these guys do what they want to do, then they will have a forum for their sports. For example, a formula one racer just died. I don't know if you heard about it. How many NHB guys have died worldwide? I can only think of one down in the Ukraine and you are talking about hundreds and hundreds of fights. Every week I'm hearing about American football [players] getting paralyzed. I'm hearing of a boxer getting brain damaged because of the accumulation of blows. There's been no deaths in this sport in America similar to that situation in Russia to my knowledge at this moment. I think it [the movie] is safe for the sport. Being a film maker, you can also see that some things look worse than what they are. Once you're in there, it's not that bad.

FCF: Where else do you plan on showing your film?
BR: We are in negotiations for some major distribution at the moment. I would like a limited theatrical release and straight to Blockbuster, like video and DVD. We have several distributions. We are kind of unsure at the moment. We'll probably have a better gauge by the end of February, mid-March. It's certainly going to be out there in a big way. I know that. They want it. It's just a matter of who we decide to go with. Who's going to give our film justice?

FCF: Why did you choose Hawaii as your American debut after the Sundance Festival?
BR: Because T. Jay [Thompson] pretty much brought us out here, the promoter of the Super Brawl. He hooked it up. He's a great guy. He brought us to Pipeline Café [popular sports bar and night club in Honolulu]. He organized this trip for us so we have T. Jay's help pretty much to come out here.

FCF: Thank you for your time and it's a great film. I'm going to encourage everyone to push for this film and hopefully it gets distributed in the movie theaters because I think the production deserves movie theater exposure.
BR: Thank you. I'm actually a big fan of Full Contact Fighter. I mean it's a great magazine and tell Joel Gold I'm going to whoop his ass when I see him next.

FCF: He's going to love that [laugh]!
BR: Alright brother [laughs].