Dambe is an ancestral martial art practised by the Hausa ethnic group in Nigeria. During matches, opponents strike – with a single arm wrapped tightly in material, in addition to with their legs – to knock their opponents to the floor. The lyrical quick documentary Elephant Food Is for the Strongest Teeth profiles two rival fighters in Kano, Nigeria, highlighting how violence and religious follow exist facet by facet inside dambe, a practice amongst butchers and fishermen. Throughout the movie, the threats that the sport has confronted over the centuries in Kano – together with, most not too long ago, a collection of lethal rebel assaults by the militant jihadist group Boko Haram – linger in the background. Although they’re outsiders, the London-based administrators Michael Kinsella Perks and Will McBain lend their portrait of dambe a way of authenticity by way of intimate cinematography and an authentic drum-and-voice rating offered by native Hausa musicians.
