Kakuma means "middle of nowhere." It's also where Mo Jabari is from, a refugee camp in Kenya where seasons were sandstorms and survival was not a metaphor. He arrived in Canada with nothing recognizable except men fighting on a television screen. That, he understood immediately.

He jumped a fence to find professional wrestling. Two minutes later, he'd handed out a stranger's flyers, met "Champagne" Raj Singh, and started the friendship that would define his career, eventually, he found himself under the mentorship of Bret Hart

Middle of Nowhere follows Mo through the unglamorous world of Canadian independent wrestling, no guarantees, no safety net, and no one coming to help if you get hurt today. In a business built on fabricated spectacle, Mo's answer is simple: "I don't have to be a gimmick. I just gotta be me."

Alex Eskandarkhah (COACHING WHILE BLACK, CIFF 2023) returns to the festival with this beautiful portrait of a local Calgary sports hero.