Director: Jamillah van der Hulst

Producers: Jamillah van der Hulst & Conrad Alleblas

Duration: 22 minutes

Premiere: 20 March 2016 (Benelux: TLC)

Sales by JaJa Film Productions

Women with a Mission is a series of 3 short documentary films. Each film tells a compelling story about a woman with a mission who, under most challenging circumstances, follows her passion and uses sports for change.

In the documentary film Women with a Mission – Sharita boxing coach Sharita van der Hulst is followed during a course for boxing coaches that she provides in the South African prison Drakenstein Correctional Centre where heavy sentences are served. Sharita has a strong belief in the power of sports, in her case the sport of boxing, to give prisoners a challenge and a goal in their life. With her professional and enthusiastic commitment Sharita manages to gain the confidence of the prisoners who heap praise on what they learn and on how it helps them during their stay in prison and eventually beyond. The documentary film gives a unique look into the prison where Nelson Mandela, himself boxer, was serving the last 18 months of his captivity before he finally came on free foot and shows what it means to get a second chance.