The documentary shines a light on the city’s MMA community and how it helps men in combating the battle with mental health.

A film which tells the story of Sunderland’s MMA community has made the long list for a prestigious award.

Poised documentary film | Two Yanks and a Brit

placeholder image — Poised documentary film | Two Yanks and a Brit

From the mats of the Made for the Cage gym to soaring cinematography from atop Tunstall Hill, the crew spent 19 months on location all around Sunderland to shoot the 90-minute film, Poised.

The film was made by production company Two Yanks and a Brit after director and executive producer Toby Robson was inspired to make a film about the transformative power of MMA after meeting a city coach.

Steven George France is well known in the city for Made for the Cage, a fight promotion and coaching gym he established with Dale Percival, with the pair coaching scores of young people over the years.

Speaking about the inspiration for the film, North East-based Toby said: “I got introduced to Steven about 10 years ago through a friend for a feature in Dazed & Confused. We were actually looking to profile one of Steven’s fighters he was training at the time.

“But in the meeting I noticed Steven had this steely quietness and power about him and I thought there’s got to be more of a story with this guy.”

The two stayed in touch over the years and started discussing a documentary about Steven’s life, his passion for fighting and how it’s helped him, and those around him, to navigate difficult chapters in life.

It’s been touring the international film festival circuit and now the film has been long listed for 'Best Sports Documentary' at The Grierson Awards.

They’re up against some big productions by the likes of Netflix, BBC and Discovery+ to name a few, but Toby says the team has their fingers crossed.

The director said: “It’s an honour for our film to be recognised by the Grierson Trust as Britain’s premier documentary award institution.

“The competition in our category is extremely strong and to have got this far with our story from the North East is testament again to everyone’s work and dedication to this project. Fingers crossed for the next round and we hope the public enjoy and interact with the film upon its impending release."

*Poised will have a UK wide release via STV: https://player.stv.tv/ from August 10 via streaming.