Golpe de luz

On a sweltering July weekend, eight teenage female boxers compete in an amateur tournament at Bob’s Boxing Palace in Reno, Nevada. Each harbors her own dreams and aspirations, moving through the ring as if born solely to be there—to fight. Bout after bout, Rita Bullwinkel draws us close—with humor, tenderness, and a keen, penetrating gaze at bodies in tension—to these young women’s desires: to seize or lose control, to make time race or stand still, to be terrifying, to be undeniably good at something. Each carries her own reasons for the sacrifices made in pursuit of that fleeting moment of glory—claiming the Daughters of America trophy. And those reasons speak to us of social class, family relationships, the often complicated and bitter leap into adulthood, and of rivalry—but also of friendship.