BLOOD, SWEAT & THE FUSILIERS
FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
I made this film whilst serving in The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, following two junior soldiers as they prepared to compete in the regiment’s annual boxing tournament, The Harts Medals.
The project felt personal from the start because years earlier, I’d stood in the same position myself. Same tournament. Same pressure. Same strange mix of fear, pride and belonging that comes with representing your company in front of the regiment.
The film was shot over eight weeks using the camera I had access to at the time, a Canon 1DX Mark III paired with older vintage Canon lenses. Most of the filming happened around daily training sessions, but the moments that interested me most often came afterwards. Time spent around the barracks, travelling between gyms or sitting in silence after training. The quieter moments that helped reveal who these young men actually were away from the performance of fighting.
Both boxers came from working-class backgrounds in the North West of England, but they carried themselves completely differently. One was cocky, loud and naturally comfortable taking up space. The other was quieter, more reserved and visibly unsure of himself at times. As filming went on, the dynamic between them slowly became the emotional spine of the film. Confidence versus self-doubt. Hubris versus the underdog.
What interested me most wasn’t really boxing itself, but what it represented inside military culture. Young men, often from difficult backgrounds, suddenly being given something bigger than themselves to fight for. Their company. Their regiment. Their identity within the group.
Looking back on the film now, I think it was one of the first times I consciously started looking for the human story underneath the surface of something physical or masculine.
The film was originally released online in 2022, but has since been taken offline as a larger scale production inspired by the same themes is now in development. A reminder that sometimes passion projects have a way of turning into something bigger than you originally expected.
Directed by Charles Logan Clare.