Bounce: Behind The Velvet Rope

10 years before the debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In 1979, Bill Viola and Frank Caliguri dreamed up a contest pitting barroom bigmouths against wrestlers, martial artists, boxers, bouncers and brawlers, billed as no-holds-barred new type of competitive fighting. When the fights succeeded beyond their wildest expectations, they were swept up in a chain of events that ended in the first mixed-martial arts ban in the nation. “Tough Guys” chronicles the inception of Caliguri and Viola’s first bouts and the colorful, crazy cast of fighters who made them a hit as well as the politicians who brought it all crashing down. The film brings to life a moment when the national martial arts craze was building to a crescendo as the economies of Pennsylvania steel towns were plummeting to levels of unemployment never seen, breeding desperate men looking for a chance to prove their worth and make some money in the ring.

When Werner Herzog was still a child, his father was beaten to death before his eyes. His mother was overwhelmed with his upbringing and thereupon shipped him off to one of the toughest youth welfare institutions in Freistatt. This was followed by a career as a bouncer in the city's most notorious music club and an attempt to start a family. Today, the 77-year-old from Bielefeld lives with his dog Lucky in a lonely house in the country. Despite adverse living conditions, he has survived in his own unique and inimitable way.

Libreville, Gabon, Africa, 2016. Christ Olsen Mickala, a young boxer, trains tirelessly during the day and earns his living by night as a bouncer in nightclubs. At the same time, the combat of the presidential elections is taking place. As Christ hopes to succeed, a whole country hopes that a democratic transition finally triumphs.

Portraits of the bouncers of the Flamingo Club in Zurich.

We were the milieu! Dummse Tünn, Schäfers Nas and Beckers Schmal, Abels Män, Frischse Pitter and the Lange Tünn ... Names that still have a ring to them in Cologne. Men who came to fame and fortune through their activities in Cologne's underworld and whose stories are brutal and evil, ice-cold and hard-boiled, but also naive, quirky and above all authentic. In the 1960s and 1970s, Cologne was dubbed "Chicago on the Rhine" by the tabloid press.

A seasoned bouncer is forced to deal with severe consequences after letting two minors slip into the nightclub, he's employed to guard.

The Double Deuce is the meanest, loudest and rowdiest bar south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and Dalton has been hired to clean it up. He might not look like much, but the Ph.D.-educated bouncer proves he's more than capable – busting the heads of troublemakers and turning the roadhouse into a jumping hot spot. But Dalton's romance with the gorgeous Dr. Clay puts him on the bad side of cutthroat local big shot Brad Wesley.

At the remote and hidden Shaolinji temple, Miyoko, also known as Shaolin Grandma , has practiced martial arts fighting techniques there for many years. When she is badly defeated by Ippon-ashi, her young and attractive rival, Miyoko is thrown out of the temple. Loosing her identity, Miyoko and her two Shaolinji apprentice misfits drift to an urban town.

When a strip club goer is killed, the dancers hire a bouncer to protect themselves. As the sexual tension grows between one of the women and the bouncer, the mystery of the dangerous killer unravels.

Mr. T's first starring made-for-TV movie role has him playing a tough and scowling, but softhearted, nightclub bouncer who finds himself involved with a bunch of kids after being conned into taking over a youth center.

Doug Glatt, a slacker who discovers he has a talent for brawling, is approached by a minor league hockey coach and invited to join the team as the "muscle." Despite the fact that Glatt can't skate, his best friend, Pat, convinces him to give it a shot, and Glatt becomes a hero to the team and their fans, until the league's reigning goon becomes threatened by Glatt's success and decides to even the score.