Renzo Gracie: Legacy

Renzo Gracie: Legacy is a 2008 documentary film about Brazilian jiu jitsu pioneer Renzo Gracie, directed by Gethin Aldous and written by Aldous, Steve Allen and Adrian Miller. Shot over a ten-year period, it shows the origins of the sport of Mixed martial arts from its bare knuckle days to the explosion of the sport in both Japan and America. Renzo is from the notorious Gracie family of Brazil and is the third generation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighters from that family. In 1993 his uncle Rorion Gracie joined forces with Art Davie and Bob Meyrowitz to create the perfect proving ground to... display the brilliance of his families fighting art Ultimate Fighting Championship. The sport is now considered one of the fastest growing in America. The film was shot, edited, produced, and directed by Gethin Aldous. He followed Renzo over a 7 year period and another student of Renzo's, Alex Shum, filmed Renzo for 4 years before that. The filmmakers chose to shun a normal distribution route and decided to self-distribute, desiring that the money for all the "blood, sweat, and tears" put into the film went straight to its makers. It was self-financed by the filmmakers on a shoestring budget.
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