Girlfight

Diana Guzman (Michelle Rodriguez) is a high school student at a Bronx school who is always getting into trouble. She’s not enough of a traditional girl for the kids at school and she does not get along with her father who she blames for her mother’s death. Diana’s brother is training to be a boxer and Diana starts to secretly steal money from her dad in order to learn to box herself. When she realises that she has real talent in the ring, she finds a purpose and a drive in life that she never thought she had. Karyn Kusama’s debut feature film is an exceptionally resonant and effective piece of filmmaking that superbly conveys the intimate story of a young Hispanic girl’s life. Eschewing conventional plotting by enfusing all the characters with ambiguity and complexity, “Girlfight” is a truly inspiring neo-feminist coming of age story. Both the female and male characters in the film are treated sensitively, and with a refreshing disavowal of the usual gender and racial stereotypes accorded to the representation of Hispanic Americans. The film won both the Directing and Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Festival and there has also been international acclaim for Rodriguez whose feature film debut it is. The film also features a cameo appearance by independent filmmaker John Sayles who helped finance the film. The featurette accompanying this DVD features in-depth interviews with Kusama and with the actors in the film.