Guest expat Kiwi filmmaker Heath Cozens presents his provocative documentary about members of a Tokyo fight club where the disabled enter the ring to battle each other and the able-bodied.
By turns heart-wrenching and hilarious, Doglegs is a fascinating, once in a lifetime look into a world that you may not have known existed, but you’ll certainly never forget.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2016
Doglegs 2015
Heath Cozens will be in attendance at both screenings
“In a renegade Tokyo pro-wrestling league, the disabled battle the able-bodied in the name of smashing stereotypes. A paraplegic husband fights his wife. The handicapped champ pummels his mentor. But this is no freak show. In Doglegs, we witness a radical reclamation of labels and identities taking place in the ring. The wrestlers don’t define themselves according to their disabilities, instead one identifies as a ‘drunk cross-dresser’ while another lays claim to ‘loser’.
Some want to be seen as invulnerable and vicious, while others look for the opposite reaction. Doglegs is a confrontational, complex and provocative film that takes potentially offensive and outrageous subject matter and re-frames it, empowering the kick-ass characters to speak for themselves. They brawl – literally and figuratively – in an active, self-determined way that would never fly in society, and beat the living prejudice out of all challengers.” — Angie Driscoll, Hot Docs
“I discovered that I had preconceptions and prejudices – politically correct prejudices. So I hope that people can avoid a knee-jerk reaction to the controversial topic of the film and allow themselves to go on a ride with me.” — Heath Cozens, Wall St Journal
Expat New Zealand filmmaker Heath Cozens lived in Japan for 18 years. He attends NZIFF screenings with funding assistance from the Japan Foundation.