sundance 2011 - Knuckle

For most of the week, Knuckle (Saturday 22 at the Broadway) has been my favorite movie at Sundance this year. It was bumped to second (so far) on Friday, but not my much.
This documentary by Ian Palmer is about a feud between two closely related families of Irish Travelers. When the conflict comes to a head, they try to settle things with bare knuckle fights in order to prevent wider violence. The fights are held in out of the way places, such as low traffic country lanes, to keep the authorities out of the picture.
These fights are refereed by members of other clans and the decision of the referee is final, although that doesn't prevent another challenge. Members of the fighters' families are not allowed at the bouts, again to prevent brawling.
Beyond the fighting there are a few other insights to the Travelers: most of the women and young girls are shy of the camera in the hands of outsiders, the clans are intermarried and fights are often between first cousins etc.
The Q&A helped some with this film. Palmer met the Quinn McDonaghs when he was asked to film a wedding and then called and asked to film a fight. He filmed this family and two others for twelve years, and it was only in the 10th year that he was told what the modern root of the fight was about.
I don't feel like I've explained this very well at all, but part of the reason is that I can't explain to myself why I like this film so very much.