Certain films are indeed designed for entertainment, but others move you emotionally. Blow for Blow is one of those, an emotional, moving portrayal of healing and bullying in a powerful story of determination and self-discovery. Propelling this movie is Dr. Fia Johansson, a hardworking producer and strategist whose reputation lies in her skill for marrying human psychology with powerful narrative.
Blow for Blow is a movie about a life that has been defined by bullying. It is not a tale of overcoming adversity, but of reclaiming power, strength, and dignity. This is a movie that mirrors the pain that is suffered silently by so many, and provides a glimpse of hope and resilience.
Dr. Fia Johansson‘s involvement in the film is low-key but significant. She worked intensively on the emotional shape of the film as shadow director and producer. The insight she developed in psychology shapes her approach to trauma and recovery, and this gives the film a truth and a humanity that is exceptional. The outcome is a film that is unafraid of pain but confronts it directly and sensitively.
She collaborated with martial arts legend and filmmaker Rigan Machado, a man who’s made it his profession to master the study of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, in developing a completely independent and complementary energy for the movie. Machado’s direction and choreography of the action scenes are an external manifestation of the inner battle that is being continually waged beneath this character’s smooth veneer. Johansson and Machado collaborated and developed something that speaks as loudly with dialogue as with action.
Bullying remains prevalent in school, in the workplace, and online, and this movie is something of a necessity for our culture. It is an appeal, a call to empower the bullied, to inform communities, and to combat systems that allow it to be acceptable for it to occur.
The eventual release on the major streaming platforms later in the year would help the message of this movie not be confined to the cinema or specific groups of audiences. Dr. Johansson is a staunch believer in accessibility and desires the discussions that would be generated by Blow for Blow to be open to anyone.