Intro:

A new film depicting the rise of Manny Pacquiao from his impoverished background to boxing success was released on Wednesday.

Script:

A new film depicting the rise of Manny Pacquiao from his impoverished background to boxing success was released on Wednesday.

Pacquiao started his phenomenal rise to global fame not as the Pacman, as he is sometimes called, but as "Kid Kulafu."

The title was taken from the label of a cheap wine whose empty bottles he returned for recycling to earn money to help his family.

"Kid Kulafu" opened on Wednesday in more than 70 theatres across the Philippines, ahead of Pacquiao's 2nd of May megafight with Floyd Mayweather.

Produced with advice and other assistance from Pacquiao, the film depicts the impoverished world he grew up in well before he became the world's only eight-division boxing champion and one of its highest-paid athletes.

Director and producer Paul Soriano had nothing but admiration for the man behind the film.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul Soriano, film maker:

"He had every excuse in the book to fail - broken family, no food, no home, nowhere to go, no money, but he still persevered, and that's what I want the people to see, is that he is where he is today because of hard work."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul Soriano, film maker:

"Kid Kulafu is really a movie about a young boy who grew up with nothing. All he really had was a dream and he fought and fought and fought, until he made those dreams come true."

"Kid Kulafu" will also be shown in some U.S. and Canadian cinemas from April the 24th.