Filmmaker Statement

Elephant Food is For the Strongest Teeth is an exploration of the Hausa martial art of Dambe – a subject seldom before represented in the west, and never in a way that has brought the nuance, emotion and spirituality of the sport fully to life. To uncover the personal stories of this rarely documented world, directors Michael Kinsella Perks and Will Mcbain worked in collaboration with local producer/fixer Abdulaziz Abdulaziz and Nigeria-based filmmaker Daniel Israel. Musical narration comes from Kalangu talking drum percussionist and singer Yusuf Musa, whose improvised praise song soundtrack is a meditative tribute to both the art of Dambe and Ebola’s heroic status in Kano City. The resulting film embraces Dambe’s many contradictions. Shot on-the-ground and up-close with its subjects, it’s a celebration of community and conflict, faith and superstition, beauty and brutality.