A feature-length boxing documentary filmed in Cincinnati, Hardface, is getting its world premiere at 5 p.m. this Saturday (Aug. 25) at the Woodward Theater as part of the Cindependent Film Festival. And we do mean "film" — director Mark Hood of College Hill shot Hardface on 16 millimeter color film rather than video.
It follows Richard "Hardface" Mason, who begins training boxers at the Northside Boxing Gym/School in Mount Healthy after his own boxing career ends. The film covers his career as a fighter and trainer (he still trains today). It also closely follows the lives of David Carlton (lightweight) and Chris Crockett (heavyweight), as well as all the other fighters that train at the gym.
Coach John Falcone started the Northside Boxing Gym in Northside but moved it to Mount Healthy inside an old discount store. He was Mason's trainer, and now Mason trains others for him.
According to the film's publicity, it aims to give an inside look at the amateur boxing experience in Cincinnati and, by extension, everywhere. "Two promising young fighters embark on the journey to become the gym's next champions. The past merges with the present through family archive footage and interviews, revealing why Falcone's fighters 'always come home.' "
Tickets and more information are available at cindependentfilmfest.org.
