Sweden / 2015 / 93mins / Documentary / Swedish

In 2010, Swedish friends Martha Nabwire and Niki Tsappos were the first-ever female hip-hop dance duo to beat all of their opponents—men included—at the most important international street-dance competition, Paris’s Juste Debout. Armed with boundless energy and huge amounts of talent, they annihilated the opposition. But what happens when they don’t come out on top? After one such disappointment, the first cracks began to appear in their friendship, and in spite of their shared passions, the girls’ different backgrounds and personalities come into conflict. This documentary not only captures two successful dancers in action, but also two young adults grappling with very different life questions. Where are your roots, and what elements of your culture do you bring along from your homeland? How do you keep your heritage alive, and how can you deal with all of these things within such a dynamic friendship?

Tora Mårtens

Tora Mkandawire Mårtens was born in Stockholm in 1978. She has a background as a still photographer and her work has been widely published in various magazines and newspapers and displayed in several museums and galleries. Tora Mårtens graduated from Dramatiska institutet in 2007. She directed and produced the documentary Tommy in Cuba. Tommy was in competition for a Golden and a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008, and was awarded at Ann Arbor Film Festival. In 2009 her film Bye Bye C’est Fini was awarded for best short doc: ”Interfilm Berlin ZDF Award” at the festival Interfilm Berlin. Tora was also awarded the “Boundless Media Contest Prize” in France for her film Dolce Vita with Bacon (2006). Her feature documentary Martha & Niki was the opening film at Nordic Panorama, and had its international premiere at IDFA 2015. The film received a special mention award for best Nordic documentary 2015. Learn More