UNDER THE ROPE
When an American feminist falls in love with Thailand’s sacred Muay Thai tradition, she steps into the ring — challenging BOTH her opponent AND SENSE OF BELONGING.
ABOUT
LOCATION: Thailand
Under The Rope is a short documentary about Sylvie Von Duuglas-Ittu, an American woman who found unexpected purpose through Muay Thai — Thailand’s sacred national sport. Initially travelling to the country to train and fight in the martial art’s historical birthplace, Sylvie’s passion for the discipline, its traditions, and her coach’s vision soon led her to relocate permanently.
What began as a personal challenge — one fight, then two, then ten — quickly evolved into something greater. Sylvie set herself an “impossible goal” of 100 fights. After achieving that, she raised the bar again: 200 bouts, becoming one of the most active fighters to have ever lived.
At the time of filming, she was approaching her 191st fight. But beyond the numbers, the film explores a deeper transformation: how Muay Thai has allowed Sylvie to expand — emotionally, physically, and philosophically. In a culture where space and hierarchy are deeply respected, she has found her own way to stand tall, push boundaries, and take up space — not only in the ring, but in life.
Filmed during a self-initiated global journey in search of untold stories, Under The Rope began with a chance encounter with Sylvie, in Chiang Mai, which transformed into a day of shooting at her gym, in Pattaya. Working solo with minimal gear — I set out to capture the emotional core of her journey with honesty and restraint.
The film went on to earn a Vimeo Staff Pick, and has since been featured by Blackmagic Design’s Splice Community and Kuriositas.
“My whole life is working towards these qualities that I’m trying to express in the ring.”
Audience Reactions
“So moving... even if it makes me sad with a feeling of not fully fitting in, which I know so well. But at the same time its incredibly beautiful, inspiring and empowering... thank you all for the video :)”
“I cried watching this. Truly passionate martial artists understand the blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice this path demands.”
“One of the best documentaries I’ve seen on Muay Thai.”
“Inspiring documentary, I watched it 5 months ago and got so emotional. Watched it again today as I am getting ready for my first muay thai fight tomorrow. Thank you for showing the way and the beauty of martial arts.”
CREATORS & COLLABORATORS
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Simon Mulvaney
FILMMAKER
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Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
MUAY THAI FIGHTER
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Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu
ATHLETE MANAGER
PERSONAL REFLECTION
I didn’t go to Thailand to make this film. I just happened to be in Chiang Mai at the same time as Sylvie — backpacking with a small camera, a drone, and a single lens. Just capturing bits of local life — chasing stories.
The night I met Sylvie, she was fighting at Tha Phae Boxing Stadium. No fanfare, no film crew, not even a plan. Just Sylvie and her opponent — stepping into something sacred.
Later that night, with the chaos of that tiny stadium still ringing in my ears, I found Sylvie on Facebook and reached out.
She invited me to her hometown of Pattaya — two days of hitchhiking and sleeper trains from Chiang Mai.
Arriving at her local gym, Petchrungruang, it became immediately clear that, despite her grace and accommodating nature, Sylvie wasn’t particularly interested in the film I was making — she was there to train, as she did every day. To push herself beyond herself, into a new way of being.
I spent just two hours with her that day, sweltering in the midday humidity — just me and Sylvie. No plan. No client. No expectations. No one to impress. Watching. Listening. Letting her story unfold, on her own terms.
What struck me wasn’t just the impressive achievement of her fight record, but the fire that fuelled it.
Her relationship with Muay Thai was layered and deeply emotional — complex in a way that can’t be wrangled into clumsy words. That complexity became the backbone of the film.
I edited Under The Rope on the road — late nights in hostel dorms, with the occasional luxury of an air-conditioned café. That haphazard combination of post-production and tramping feels almost romantic to me now.
I didn’t know quite what I had — just that something in there felt truthful. All I had to do was find it and present it with a sense of emotional depth, reflective of her quiet stoicism.
In the end, Under The Rope became my first Vimeo Staff Pick. I was living on the banks of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala when I received the news, and promptly treated myself to a head-sized avocado to celebrate.
The feature opened doors I’d never had the guts to knock on, and gave me the confidence to more vigorously follow my intuition in all aspects of life — an approach that’s directly led to more projects of this ilk. But most importantly, after spending the five years prior directing back-to-back commercials, it reminded me what I love about filmmaking: meeting beautiful people, living beautiful lives, holding a mirror to their journey and presenting its reflection to an audience — so that through it, they might better see and understand themselves.
This wasn’t a funded project, or even a polished one. It was a story that found its way to me when I was open enough to receive it — and brave enough to follow it wherever it wanted to go.