MARTHA & NIKI, a documentary being featured at the ongoing Nordic Film Festival in Beijing, chronicles the incredible story of dance duo Martha and Niki, and their triumph in the biggest international Street Dance Competition, Juste Debout, in Paris. This was the FIRST time ever, two WOMEN became World Champions in the Hip Hop category. Shen Li talked to the film's director Tora Mkandawire Martens, about breaking down gender barriers.

Reaching the top of the hip-hop dance world in 2010, sisters-in-dance, Martha Nabwire and Niki Tsappos found themselves in the challenging position of being the only women in a male-dominated sport.

Their inspiring story has been caught on camera by Swedish director Tora Mkandawire Mårtens.

Mårtens spent five years following Martha and Niki, and the result is a documentary that pulls back the curtain on two female dance pioneers, revealing a story of strength, hardship, and staying true to yourself.

SHEN LI BEIJING "MARTHA & NIKI is much more than a dance documentary. It is a film about women boldly taking space in the typically male-dominated world of hip-hop dance. What element of Martha & Niki's story originally drew you to them?"

TORA MKANDAWIRE MARTENS DIRECTOR, MARTHA & NIKI "I saw them dance on a clip of them dancing on the internet, and I was really amazed at their dance. And I get to know that they were two different women that dance together, because first I saw individual clips on the internet. Then I understood there were two, it's always good to have two characters in the film, because it's always interesting with relationships, and I'm really interested in relationships. I felt from the begining that this is interesting, this is gonna be difficult."

SHEN LI BEIJING "The voice of the female filmmaker was louder than ever at this year's Berlin International Film Festival, with 63 percent of the films presented across the festival's 15 different sections helmed by women. What more needs to be done for female filmmakers to really shine in the film industry?"

TORA MKANDAWIRE MARTENS DIRECTOR, MARTHA & NIKI "Mentors are very good. People that have been in the business for a long time, that can help us believe in us and believe our ideas, make us stronger. And on the other hand, the financiers, the decision makers, believe in us that they can get insights about equlity, about ineuqlity that is the real thing in life, that men and women are treated differently just because they are men and women."