Cornered: Finding Yourself in the Ring

Cornered: Finding Yourself in the Ring is a short observational documentary about one man's way of coping with his mental health, and the place where he found it.

Andy Burrows is from Belfast. He isn't a competitive fighter and he isn't a coach. He goes to a local boxing club because training helps him manage what's going on in his head. The film follows Andy in and around the gym: the warm-ups, the pads, the bag work, the exhaustion, and the quiet moments in between, when he talks about why he keeps coming back.

The approach is intimate and unhurried. There's no narrator and no expert voices. Andy tells his own story, in his own words, and the camera stays close enough to see the effort and the relief. The club is shown not as a place of aggression but as a community, where routine, discipline and the company of others give structure to difficult days.

The film opens with "Mantra" by singer-songwriter Paul Savva, setting a reflective tone before we meet Andy. From there, the story moves between training and conversation, building a picture of someone who has found something that works for him, and who is honest about why he needs it.

Cornered is the second film in Fending Off, a seven-part series made in Northern Ireland. Each film follows a different person and their own way of fending off poor mental health, whether that's boxing, walking, fitness or crafts. The series aims to show that there's no single answer, and to encourage viewers to find the thing that helps them.

The first two films were made unfunded, shot and edited by William Craig. The aim now is to find partners, broadcasters and sponsors to complete the series.