J-school alum’s ‘Without a Fight’ to screen on UNC campus Nov. 1

UNC will host a one-time only screening of 2003 J-school grad Jason Arthurs’ documentary “Without a Fight,” featuring a live musical accompaniment from the Durham-based band Megafaun and a host of special guests at UNC’s Memorial Hall on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. 

Tickets for the event – which the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media is co-sponsoring with Carolina for Kibera, the Department of Economics, the Office of Global Health and the Center for Global Initiatives — are $15 for the public, $10 for UNC faculty and staff, and $5 for students with ID. Children under 12 are admitted for free. 

Andrew Johnson, a 2010 journalism school graduate, served as co-director of photography for the film.

“Without a Fight” follows the triumphs and travails of four African youths as they vie for a soccer championship in Kibera, a Kenyan slum rife with ethnic tensions and violence. For the youth of Kibera, soccer is a way of life. But until the Champion’s League was formed ten years ago, thanks in part to the UNC-based nonprofit Carolina for Kibera, soccer was also a source of that tension and violence. Peace activists in Kibera asked themselves a question in the face of tribal tension: What would happen if they formed a league that required kids from different tribes to be on the same team? “Without a Fight” answers this question and offers a unique look into the problems of poverty and division. 

While finishing “Without a Fight,” Arthurs and producer Beth Kutchma of UNC’s Center for Global Initiatives asked Megafaun’s Brad and Phil Cook to write and compose the soundtrack. They did, and at the Nov. 1 screening, the Cook brothers will perform a live rendition of the score.

Events tied to the screening begin at 5:30 p.m. with a food truck rodeo outside Memorial Hall, activities for students and families, a demonstration from the rope skipping team The Bouncing Bulldogs, and a special appearance by UNC women’s soccer player andworld champion freestylist Indi Cowie, whose talents have been featured on various television programs, at a Manchester United football match, and at nytimes.com.

At 7 p.m., UNC alumnus and Carolina for Kibera co-founder Rye Barcott will introduce the trailer to his book, “It Happened on the Way to War,” which inspired Arthurs and Kutchma to make “Without a Fight.” Singer-songwriter JKutchma will perform his song “Arms Around the World,” which he wrote for Barcott’s trailer. 

After the screening, a Q&A session will following with Barcott, Kutchma, Arthurs, the Cooks and Hillary Omala, the executive director of Carolina for Kibera.

The World premier of the film was held at the 11mm Football Film Festival in Berlin in March, and the North American premiere was held at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, N.C., in April. Since then, the film has been shown at universities across the country. “Without a Fight” has been nominated and shortlisted for a special jury award by the Peace and Sport International Forum. In November, the film will screen as an official entry at the All Sports LA Film Festival.

UNC Global Initiatives contact: Beth Kutchma, 919.599.6504, chasethemadlion@gmail.com