When shooting a documentary about your two best mates, walking the line between being a filmmaker and a friend can be difficult. Just ask Macario De Souza.
“As a friend, you want to put down the camera and be with your mates,” says the 27 year-old director. “But you can’t do that while you’re making a movie.”
Fighting Fear is De Souza’s follow up to 2007’s Bra Boys, the highest grossing local (non-IMAX) documentary in Australian history. Shot over three years, the film tracks the friendship between cage fighter Richie Vas and pro-surfer Mark Matthews from the ages of 12 to 27 as they experience highs and lows, personally and professionally.
“There’s a lot of movies about female friendship,” says executive producer Michael Lawrence. “But Macca and I hadn’t seen a film for a long time about men being mates, and I think mateship is a really great Australian theme.”
The film was financed by private investors and shot on a number of cameras including the Canon 7D and 5D, the Sony EX3 and the Phantom HD Gold.
“We did look at getting some funding, but it’s a slow process dealing with the government. I feel like all the young talented filmmakers never get to show their work because of all that bullshit,” says De Souza. “I guarantee there’s millions of kids out there that are three or four times more talented than I am and just haven’t had that opportunity.”
Although categorised as an action documentary, the director is quick to emphasise that the focus is on the story and characters, with surfing and fighting making up less than 10 minutes of film. Lawrence credits this as the reason that veteran TV producer Sue Masters (SeaChange, Secret
Life of Us) jumped on board.
“She could feel that the story was something that a lot of young men are looking for,” says Lawrence. “Young men are confused about what they’re meant to be and they’re either wearing male makeup or glassing someone on the weekend. There’s got to be a middle road.”
Both Vas and Matthews face trouble with the law during the film but De Souza sees them ultimately as role models for young men.
“The thing with kids is, they’re not going to listen to teachers or authorities, they want to listen to people they can relate to,” says De Souza. “And if that’s someone who is getting in a cage and fighting, or someone who is surfing waves that can kill them, they’re going to listen to them or be inspired by them.
“Being my best friends, I know what kind of men they’ve grown into – and I know they wouldn’t go back down that path anymore.”