Boxing News 2014: Manny Pacquiao Docu Premiers in March at Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas; Narrator Liam Neeson Mimics Pacman (VIDEOS)
YouTube/Manny Pacquiao Movie
The documentary film about Filipino boxer and eight-division title holder Manny Pacquiao will have its world premier in March at the Southwest Film Festival and Conference in Austin, Texas.
It is one of the entries in the Documentary Spotlight category of the filmfest which runs from March 7 to 15, 2014.
YouTube/Manny Pacquiao Movie
Actor Liam Neeson, who did an impression of the Filipino boxer on the Feb 24 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, is the narrator of the docu titled Manny, megged by Ryan Moore and Leon Gast, an Academy Award winner.
Pacquiao's defeat of American pugilist Oscar de la Hoya in 2008 inspired Moore to make the movie.
This is not Gast's first boxing docu since he has previously crafted When We Were Kings which features the 1970s and 1980s icons of the boxing ring, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
The two directors went through thousands of hours of film and video footage to create a thorough documentation of Pacquiao's life and boxing career.
The movie looks back at the life of Pacquiao, from his very difficult and poor childhood in Mindanao to his life as a constructi0on worker in Manila after he left home at age 14. It also chronicles his entry into the boxing world, until he became world champion, holding eight titles.
The film has interview with celebrities such as actor Mark Wahlberg, comedian Jimmy Kimmel and Jeremy Piven. Music is by Hollywood composer Lorne Balfe whose film credits include Inception, Dark Night and Iron Man.
The film will be shown in the Philippines on March 12, a month before Pacquiao faces American Boxer Timothy Bradley in a rematch in Las Vegas.