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The following press release was issued:
Adam Wilde's Slowburn Shoot: An Indie Wrestling Story
Goes Into the Ring and Takes Audiences Backstage
Documentary Explores the Tragedy and the Ultimate Triumph that is Cleveland's Absolute Intense Wrestling
World Premiere at Cleveland International April 13
Cleveland, OH-- Director Adam J. Wilde is excited to announce that the Cleveland International Film Festival will host the World Premiere of Slowburn Shoot: An Indie Wrestling Story, a documentary that goes into the ring and backstage of the unvarnished world of independent wrestling, through the lens of Cleveland's own Absolute Intense Wrestling. The documentary features notable performers including John Thorne, Josh Prohibition, Johnny Gargano, Eddie Kingston, Ethan Page, Britt Baker, Dylan “Hornswoggle” Postl, and more. Slowburn Shoot will screen to its very first audiences on April 13, 2026 as part of the Cleveland International Film Festival.
Ahead of the world premiere, Wilde shared, "I went backstage not to capture the fights, but the people. The men and women who risk their bodies for little pay, who balance day jobs with bruised ribs, who chase fleeting moments of glory while carrying deep scars. Over the course of a year, I attended nearly every show, shooting candid portraits and slowly earning the trust of the wrestlers and the promotion itself. What I discovered was a community unlike any other. One that had endured trauma, near collapse, and reinvention, yet remained stubbornly alive."
"I want audiences to walk away understanding that what happens in those small gyms isn’t fake. It’s real in the most human sense: the risk, the heartbreak, the love, the community. Wrestling is just the stage. The story is about the people who step into it."
Slowburn Shoot: An Indie Wrestling Story at CIFF:
Playhouse Square Campus
1501 Euclid Ave #200, Cleveland, OH 44115
April 13, 2026, 4:50 pm
Slowburn Shoot takes an unvarnished look at the world of independent wrestling through the lens of Absolute Intense Wrestling. The story is told by some of the biggest names in modern professional wrestling. They tell their own tales while revealing the tragedy and the ultimate triumph that is Absolute Intense Wrestling.
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