Variety Critics' Choice 2016 / The Fits / USA 2015
Eleven-year-old Toni goes boxing with her brother but she wants to become a member of the tight-knit modern dance collective that practices in the adjacent gym. She gets her wish, but when the other girls begin falling prey to the bizarre symptoms of group psychosis, it’s up to her whether or not she’ll be able to get away from there.
An abstract portrait of adolescent emotional dynamics, The Fits uses precise aesthetics to convey the alienation and longing for social inclusion of an 11-year-old tomboy trapped between two worlds. First-time writer-director Anna Rose Holmer crafts a meticulous mood of psychological isolation and beguiling mystery through her metaphorical tale, which exhibits less interest in traditional dramatic conventions than in situating viewers in its protagonist’s particular headspace. Set in Cincinnati’s West End, and taking place almost exclusively in a few confined environmental spaces, the film studies Toni (Royalty Hightower) as she tries out for the Lioness dance squad, whose members begin falling prey to a series of strange fainting spells – which give the film its name and further highlight Toni’s disconnection from those around her, especially since she turns out to be the only one not suffering from the perplexing attacks.
Nick Schager
71 min / Color, DCP
Director Anna Rose Holmer
/ Screenplay Anna Rose Holmer, Saela Davis, Lisa Kjerulff
/ Dir. of Photography Paul Yee
/ Music Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans
/ Editor Saela Davis
/ Art Director Charlotte Royer
/ Producer Lisa Kjerulff, Anna Rose Holmer
/ Production Yes, Ma'am!
/ Cast Royalty Hightower, Alexis Neblett, Da’Sean Minor, Lauren Gibson, Makyla Burnam
/ Sales Mongrel International
/ Contact Pascale Ramonda
Anna Rose Holmer (b. 1985, Rhinebeck, New York) was ranked by Filmmaker magazine as one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film 2015. Competent in a variety of professions, such as screenwriter and director, she also participated in the production of several documentaries focused on music, modern dance, and ballet, including A Ballet in Sneakers: Jerome Robins and Opus Jazz (2010) and Ballet 422, presented in 2014 at the Tribeca film festival. Her fascination with group dance, its rhythms and choreography, found its way into her narrative debut The Fits, which came about with the support of the Sundance Institute and Venice Biennale College. The film also premiered at the Venice fest last year.
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Pascale Ramonda
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France
Phone: +33 662 013 241
E-mail: [email protected]
Saela Davis
Film Editor, Screenwriter
Chris Foster
Sound Designer
Anna Rose Holmer
Film Director
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