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Jun 13, 2016 Web Exclusive By Kyle Mullin

It would have been so easy for Anna Rose Holmer’s debut to be mired by any number of cliches. But just like the prodigious teen dancers and boxers in her film, The Fits, the director nimbly sidesteps any such tropes. Toni, the movie’s protagonist (played by Royalty Hightower), is an 11-year-old tomboy trying to navigate the physical and social demands of both those extracurriculars at her inner city school. As the older girls in her dance troop begin succumbing to spastic “fits,” and their teachers begin to speculate about contaminants in the local water supply, audiences are given an unflinching glimpse of what life is like for a young black girl trying to find her way. And while audiences have come to expect hackneyed handling of such subject matter—thanks to countless, lesser films—attendees at last year’s Venice Film Festival vigorously applauded Holmer’s depiction of inner city girlhood. The director talks about all that and more, on the heels of The Fits’ recent stateside release.

Kyle Mullin [Under the Radar]: One critic praised your skill at “coaxing un-selfconscious performances out of non professional actors.” Tell me more about how you did that.

Anna Rose Holmer: My co-writers—Saela Davis, Lisa Kjerulff and I—very early on decided to cast a real dance team in the film. We felt there would be a fabric, that you couldn’t re-create, that comes with being on a team with each other. Yes, these are non-professional actors, but they are still elite performers that compete nationally. It’s the same with the boxers in the film—they fight at the Junior Olympic level and are nationally ranked. So I think they all brought so much to the table in terms of dedication, craft and respect for each other, and high work ethic. I don’t know, I felt like I was working with professionals every single day.

Regardless of her lack of professional experience, Royalty seems like a natural actress anyway. Her eyes are so communicative.

Royalty is incredible. She has this commanding presence, but it’s also soft and exciting. She has this capacity to listen, and reflect the world on her face. I think a lot of people assume that Royalty is playing herself in the film, but she’s actually not like Toni at all. She’s just an incredible actor who happens to be 11 years old. I left like she was a real collaborator and a real joy to work with.

Our process as filmmakers was to have all our cast be authors along with us, and take ownership of their roles on screen. And I think that was particularly the case working with Royalty.

How did that experience make you a better artist?

I don’t have much to reference, because it’s my first time directing a narrative feature. But I think if you enter into a process, and say “I’m not an expert in any experience but my own,” and therefore be open and listen, and really step back and allow other voices to be part of the process, then I think really strengthens your work. And I hope to continue that throughout my work.

Speaking of the process, this film was part of a project at Venice that provided a budget for a promising first time filmmaker, but stipulated that the film had to be completed in under a year. What was that limitation like?

The time constraints were one of the most challenging aspects of the film. The entire process, from first draft to world premiere, had to happen in 11 months. And it just forced us to be bold, and make decisions that lived onscreen everyday. I personally embraced the challenge and motivation, and they were motivational.

One of the other benefits was that we’d premier at Venice. And there was a real currency in that. Often, in the independent space, you create work and you’re not sure it will reach an audience. So it felt very validating, even on set, that we’d be able to showcase our work in front of an audience at one of the top festivals in the world.

What was it like to show the film to that Venice audience?

Venice was incredible. It was the first time Royalty had left the country, and the first time she’d been on a plane. So it felt special for so many reasons. And when the credits rolled and the audience stood up and cheered, yelling “Brava! Brava!” and coming up and hugging Royalty, I can’t put in words how special that was for me as a filmmaker, how long lasting that memory will be.

Audiences stateside are sure to have even stronger reactions to the film, especially during the scenes where the teachers express concern about contaminated water causing these “fits” among their students. Yet you wrote this film before the Flint water crisis. Did you want to highlight that water quality issue even then?

Yes. We started writing in 2013, so we were not aware of the atrocity that was happening in Flint at the time. That being said, we did look at real cases of mass psychogenic illness, and conversion disorder, and hysterics. And often communities will search for an external reason for these episodes. So that was us exploring that idea in the scripts. Certainly now audiences carry a different weight to the implication of contaminated water. But that wasn’t something that was in our mind when we wrote the script.

Critics loved how the film can be interpreted in different ways, that it has so much ambiguity. Tell me about why that was important for you.

Yeah, I really love when cinema asks a question and invites conversation. And that was certainly in our minds when we were creating the structure and trying to keep it focused, so that each audience member that comes to the film can walk away with an individual experience, and find their own connection to Toni’s story.

What are your future plans?

I’m really excited to get into my second narrative feature. My co-writer on The Fits, Saela, and I are working on a script. I’m also really excited to see what Royalty does, to watch her career and be a really enthusiastic cheerleader on the sidelines.

Yes, both of you look very poised for a breakthrough. The way you filmed Royalty was so unique and absorbing. Does that speak to your experience as a young girl? Were you a lot like her character, Toni, when you were growing up?

My co-writers and I really see ourselves in Toni. We were bringing a lot of ourselves to that character. She’s a meeting point of our experiences and also Royalty’s experiences. But yeah, I really was a tomboy. And, just like in the film, there was that moment when Lisa, Saela and I took a step out of our brothers’ shadows and really started to question who we were as individuals. And that’s part of what this film is about—this very specific time in this girl’s life, when she has to face herself and find herself for the first time.

As the film gets a wider release, and eventually becomes available on VOD, more and more young ladies like Toni will see it. How do you think those girls—who may be struggling with their gender roles, or where they fit socially—might relate to seeing a character like Toni onscreen?

I hope, regardless of where they are, they see Toni as a strong example of a girl who is driving her own action. Maybe she doesn’t always know what she wants, everyday she is seeking more. And that’s what’s so exciting about Toni, she’s not afraid to step into a room where she doesn’t know all the answers. She’s just a very bold woman, and ya know, I think she’s a real special character.

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www.thefitsfilm.com