‘Naz’ is a feature-length documentary that explores the historical and cultural formations of the British Yemeni boxer Prince Naseem Hamed. It is a film that not only celebrates a forgotten era, but also sheds light on where we are now.
One of the most successful and entertaining sporting icons of the 1990s, Naseem Hamed’s unique position as a second-generation British Arab with mass appeal resonated deeply with an under-represented Arab community in Britain and beyond, as well as with a new generation in the Middle East, all coming of age at a similar time. ‘Naz’ explores the tension between Hamed’s near-cult status within certain communities, and the ambivalence of the British nation-at-large, which never really took him to heart.
