“Just as you fight in sport, you fight in life,” former world heavyweight boxing champ Vitali Klitschko says at one stage during Kevin Macdonald’s new documentary Klitschko: More than a Fight (a world premiere in international competition at Sheffield DocFest as well as the fest opener). The words have a new resonance given Klitschko’s current role as Mayor of Kyiv more than two years into the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Like a lot of people, I felt when the Ukraine war started that it was a very clear moral situation and that Russia was acting in a totally barbaric and unacceptable way. Ukraine is incredibly important in terms of the future of Europe and the future of democratic values,” Oscar-winning Scottish director Kevin Macdonald explains why he wanted to take the assignment.
Macdonald had been looking around for a project linked to Ukraine when he was approached by producer Lawrence Elman (CEO of Docville Studios) who mentioned he had contacts with Klitschko and his younger brother, Vladimir, also a former heavyweight champ.
“I thought that was a great way of telling a story about Ukraine and the war and of appealing to an audience who wouldn’t necessarily normally be interested in politics or current affairs. You’d get sports fans, boxing fans, a much wider audience rather than doing a film about the frontline or Zelenskyy [the Ukrainian President].”
As part of his early research, Macdonald ventured off to Kyiv to meet the mayor. “It’s quite a schlepp to get there,” he says of the lengthy and sometimes nerve-wracking train journey from Poland into Ukraine. When he first visited in late 2022/early 2023, there was little electricity. Generators had been bombed and Ukrainians were trying to keep themselves warm with old fashioned wood fires. Even so, people were trying their hardest to get on with ordinary life.
“All the time I was making this, I was amazed by how resilient the people are in Kyiv and determined not to let the Russians win…This is their war. It’s not America’s war, it’s not NATO’s war. They want to win it because they feel this incredible burning sense of injustice,” the director says of the indomitable mentality of the Ukrainians.
What also struck him was how tiring it was living permanently under the threat of bombs. You’d be woken up once or twice a night to go to shelters. You’d rarely get a good night’s sleep. Macdonald decided he needed assistance, calling on Latvian cinematographer Edgar Dubrovskiy to co-direct.
One strand of the film explores Klitschko’s sometimes fraught relationship with Zelenskyy. The two men don’t get on.
“One of the things I found really likeable about him [Klitschko] is that I think he is an incredibly decent man, a really likeable and warm man with a great sense of humour actually. He belies his images. You expect him to be a meathead but he’s very sensitive, very warm and very clever,” Macdonald reflects.
“It’s very complicated, that whole relationship with Zelenskyy. I had to think twice whether we really wanted to focus on that. The film is meant to be – let’s call a spade a spade – propaganda for Ukraine…but it became obvious that that subtext of their relationship, a pretty difficult relationship, was a big part of what he was dealing with all the time we were filming. It felt like we would be remiss not to put it in.”
Everyday politics has not disappeared in Ukraine because of the war. Opponents will still try to score points off each other. What is clear, though, is both men share the same goals – they want to win the war.
The documentary combines contemporary footage of Klitschko in Kyiv with an account of his life and career as a top-level boxer. “We started off thinking it [the film] would be much more in the present day…but actually a lot of what he [Klitschko] was doing [during the war] was very repetitive: visiting people who had been bombed, offering solace to people who are grieving, visiting the front line, going to international conferences and meetings,” Macdonald explains why he decided to focus as much on the backstory. He wanted to know what had driven Klitschko to go into politics. The answer lies in his earlier experiences. “It has a lot to do with his Soviet background, his father…that whole backstory of his Soviet childhood, getting into martial arts, Chernobyl and all of that is so rich and explains why he is fighting as hard as he is fighting [today].”
Klitschko’s mother features prominently. “She is so charismatic and warm and emotional. We tried to do an interview with her about what happened when the invasion occurred and she literally couldn’t do it. She just kept bursting into tears. There’s something about that sheer Russian mother’s love that is very affecting. To begin with, it was very hard to get past the office and with him into his personal life. It took a while to get to see his mother and even longer to meet his ex-wife and his children. But without those personal elements that you can relate to emotionally, it is hard to make it work.”
Macdonald shows the ex-champ working out in the gym. Klitschko calls his tough exercise regime “medicine against stress.” It keeps him fit and sane – and guards against the back pains he still feels from his time in the ring.
“I’ve never met in all my life anyone more hardworking than this man,” the director says in awe of his subject. “We went to Lviv where this is a sequence in the courtroom. He said do you want to come with me? I said yes. He said I’ll pick you up at 1.30am. He drove all the way to this courtroom, gave interviews, got back in the car, drove seven hours back to Kyiv and goes to the office. It’s amazing to me. I am lightweight by example. The exercise is also what enables him to continue in that way. He likes a very spartan life on his own…I don’t want to over-egg it but I think he’s a pretty remarkable character.”
Not that Klitschko is without an ego. When he is asked if he wants to be President, he gives a classic politician’s non-denial denial.
“But it’s amazing to see how hard he works for his citizens and his country. I think it is absolutely genuine….it was a very moving experience for me meeting people in his office and then the next time I go there, they’ve had their call-up papers and are off to the front line…your chances of coming back are not always that great.”
As for Ukraine’s success in heavyweight boxing [with Oleksandr Usyk now the new undisputed champ), the director has his own pet theory about that. “You see a lot of huge people there. Everybody seems to be over 6ft 7 inches and built like a brick shithouse. And Vitali says something about Ukraine in the 90s and what other way are you going to make something of yourself except through sport.”
Klitschko: More than a Fight was exec produced by former BBC Storyville boss, Nick Fraser, one of the most influential figures in recent UK doc history. “That in a way was the reason why I got involved in the project in the first place,” Macdonald says. “I owe a lot to Nick in my career and I have always been incredibly fond of him. He gave me my first two ever documentary commissions.” [Fraser in now a partner in Docville]
The documentary is due to air on Sky in August.
