Penitentiary

A drifter nicknamed Too Sweet gets railroaded into prison after a roadside brawl and finds the only way out is the warden's inmate boxing tournament, which the film shoots as a sweaty, half-comic ordeal. Jamaa Fanaka made it while still a UCLA film student, part of the LA Rebellion of Black filmmakers, and he brings a rawness and a streak of oddball humour the studio blaxploitation cycle rarely managed. It became the highest-grossing independent film of its year and spawned two sequels, and it still barely turns up on anyone's shelf. Rough around every edge and far more alive than its budget explains.