REVIEW: ‘Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible’
Photo: Donna Kipp competes at the Blackfeet Boxing Club. Photo courtesy of Seventh Movement / Provided by press kit with permission.
ESPN Films recently released Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible, a powerful documentary about the hardships faced by young Native American women, who, according to the United States Justice Department, are 10 times more likely to be murdered than non-native women.
To fight back against this startling trend, a boxing club has formed on the Blackfeet reservation in northern Montana. At this club, Frank Kipp trains fighters to stand up for themselves and face the uncertain world with confidence and physical power. He’s not training his young protégées to be violent; he simply wants them to be prepared for the world and find the inner-confidence to compete in state and national boxing contests.
Frank is an inspiring subject for this 30-minute documentary. He’s driven and kind, taking in these boxing students as if they were his own children. In fact, one of the young boxers, Mamie Kennedy, moves in with the Kipp family for a period of time; she’s an excellent boxer and needs to escape some trouble at home. Without missing a beat, Frank takes her in, letting her bunk with his own daughter, Donna Kipp.
Framing the entire film is the sad and distressing story of Ashley Loring Heavyrunner, a young native woman who went missing from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in 2017. As Frank trains his pugilists in the gym, Ashley’s family, including her passionate sister Kimberly Loring, search the local area for any sign of what might have happened.
Ultimately the boxing at Frank’s facility and the story of Ashley are connected by the troubling statistics facing many native women, but Blackfeet Boxing doesn’t simply present the statistics and dreadful realities. There’s some hope built into the narrative thanks to the growing attention focused on missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW). The calls for justice and an end to this violence have started a movement, prompting community organizations to come together around a shared goal: finding these lost loved ones and stopping the horrible trend once and for all.
Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible, directed by Kristen Lappas and Tom Rinaldi, is a step in the right direction of spreading awareness about this important issue and gaining support for the MMIW movement. Let’s make it the start of a conversation.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible (2020). Directed by Kristen Lappas and Tom Rinaldi. Running time: 30 minutes. An ESPN Films release. Rating: 
