What would drive a 34 year old female IT professional to quit her steady job, sell her possessions, move to Thailand and pursue a career as a Muay Thai fighter?
Director Stash Capar explores the question in ‘Crush’, an inspiring branded film following the career journey of now 40 year old Muay Thai world champion Candice 'Candi Crush' Mitchell for Toronto Kickboxing & Muay Thai Academy (TKMT).
Opening up with the cinematic and deeply symbolic Wai Kru ceremony, intercut with brutal fight highlights, the film takes the viewer on a distilled version of Mitchell’s six years as a professional fighter, all told within a time span of four minutes and 20 seconds.
Drawing on his ability to capture deep insights and emotional truths, Stash, a former competitor himself, went to great lengths to understand and present an authentic portrait of his subject, even going as far as sparring with Mitchell prior to shooting.
“Candice is an incredible human being and I’m very thankful for the opportunity that she and TKMT presented me with. For the uninitiated it’s easy to disregard Muay Thai as 'barbaric'. Hopefully the film will inspire some to start their own journeys and discover who they are through something really hard, like Muay Thai.”