Puenzo began her career in the film industry as a screenwriter; her first work being
The Whore and the Whale (2002). She also wrote the screenplay for the film Through Your Eyes (2007), which was based on the short story "Cinismo", by the Argentine writer
Sergio Bizzio. Within the same year, Puenzo made her debut as a director with the film,
XXY (2007). She frames these stories through the innocence of a child's gaze. Through this practice, she attempts to resist
heteronormative models of development. As a director, she is strongly influenced by
silent films. Although her work features sound, she makes an effort to not solely rely on dialogue if a scene can be told with a look. She has stated that the two novels were not written with film adaptation in mind, and instead adaptation began years later. El Niño Pez did not begin to be adapted until XXY was in the editing stage. Additionally, Puenzo was featured in issue 113 of
Granta Magazine,
The Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists. == Filmography ==