Behruz Banissi

Aicha, a high-school student, is a passionate kung fu fighter. Her Turkish parents expect her to get into medical school, like her brother Ali. Defying her family, Aicha starts secretly training at a professional, co-ed kung fu club. A boy, Emil, helps Aicha train for the club championship and they fall in love. But the rules of life are not as simple as the rules of kung fu, and Aicha is forced to decide who she is and what she wants. “Right away you should see how FIGHTER differs from most martial arts films. While the training and combat scenes are plentiful, they are not the point of the film. This is a film about Aicha, a young girl caught between cultures trying to find her own way through life, trying to learn who she is and what role her family plays for her. It is a coming of age story, a race and gender issues story, and a love story before it is a martial arts story and it stands head and shoulders above the huge majority of fight films.” –Brown, Twitchfilm. From IFC Films.