Interview with Welby Ings, the director of the film “Punch”
"I couldn't read or write until I was 15, now I'm a university professor. When we had to read in school I used to draw whole worlds and those worlds can talk to me through a drawing much more slowly than writing can. And that's why the film is very visually rich." - Welby Ings
Jim is a talented and hard-working young boxer, coached by his strict father. Everything about him seems to be just perfect, if it wasn’t for the one thing that he discovers in himself after meeting a homeless musician Whetu. The meeting ignites a fire in soul, but the homophobic small towns of New Zealand don’t really care for a passion of that kind, forcing the young man to deal with his inner struggles.
“Punch” is the debut feature film of Welby Ings, made in the memory of his partner, who died of AIDS in the 1990s. Ings spent years observing boxing culture and used his knowledge to create the film’s atmosphere. In “Punch” he also shows the darker side of New Zealand that is opposing gay rights.
https://poff.ee/en/film/punch/
