Diana Guzman, a troubled Brooklyn teenager, decides to channel her aggression by training to become a boxer, all while keeping it a secret from her father.
Acting
Rodriguez's debut — she learned to box for real, no stunt doubles.
Direction
Karyn Kusama's first feature, made for under $250k, won Sundance.
Cinematography
16mm grain that makes Brooklyn feel like a character breathing.
Director
Karyn Kusama
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Karyn Kusama funded this partly through a grant from the Princess Grace Foundation; she was 26 when it premiered at Sundance, where it became the first film by a Latina director to win the Grand Jury Prize.
This film essentially created the 'Michelle Rodriguez type' — the hard, wounded Latina who'd dominate action cinema for two decades. She'd never acted before; Kusama found her in a New York talent search.
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