Interview: Rachel Morrison on Upending the Sports Format in Her Feature Directing Debut ‘The Fire Inside’

In Rachel Morrison’s The Fire Inside, Claressa Shields (Ryan Destiny) doesn’t let her gender stop her from finding the right boxing coach, Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry), to take her all the way from Flint, Michigan to the Olympics. Her incredible journey doesn’t end there when she realizes that achieving her goals doesn’t come with everything she thought it would and she’s not content to let things stay that way.

Awards Buzz spoke with Morrison about switching over from the role of cinematographer to director, which she describes as both a lonely and immensely rewarding job. Watch the video above to hear about her collaboration with screenwriter and producer Barry Jenkins and the film’s journey from COVID shutdowns to TIFF to its year-end release.

The Fire Inside opens in theaters on Friday, December 25^th.