Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood decides that joining the all-boys’ wrestling team is the only way back to her estranged father.

“First Match” stars a cast of relative unknowns lead by Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome, and Jared Kemp. Newman spoke to Refinery29 about the nationwide casting search and finding her lead in Emanuelle’s self-submitted audition tape. “On first watch, I knew I’d found our Mo. And to top it off, she was a natural wrestler, born in Brooklyn and had lived in Brownsville as a child.”

In fact, the part of the idea for Newman to adapt the film from her 2010 award-winning short of the same name came from meeting Emanuelle.

“The friendship we developed over the years, the time I spent at her wrestling practices, and the stories she and her friend shared with me, eventually inspired me to expand the short into a feature and ground it in her neighborhood of Brownsville.”

“First Match” be available to stream on Netflix March 30, following its premiere at SXSW this week"