The Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival is hosting a screening of the locally filmed The Fits as part of the Film Fest Drive-In series, a partnership with other festivals including Black Alphabet Cincy and Cincy Black Pride, Black Cincinnati Cinema Collective and the 48 Hour Film Project, Mayerson JCC Jewish & Israeli Film Festival.
The screening takes place 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10 in the parking lot at 302 W. Fourth St. in Covington. The cost is $20 per car and capacity is limited. Get tickets at otrfilmfest.org/film-fest-drive-in-the-fits.
According to the OTR International Film Festival, The Fits is “a psychological portrait of 11-year-old Toni, a tomboy assimilating to a tight-knit dance team in Cincinnati’s West End. Enamored by the power and confidence of this strong community of girls, Toni eagerly absorbs routines, masters drills and even pierces her own ears to fit in. When a mysterious outbreak of fainting spells plagues the team, Toni’s desire for acceptance is twisted.”
(That West End dance team is Q-Kidz, the 39-year-old competitive community dance studio on Linn Street that also offers a place where kids can get hands-on attention, positive reinforcement and even help with homework. Read about Q-Kidz and their impact at citybeat.com.)
In 2017, CityBeat film critic tt stern-enzi wrote of the film:
The Fits, the low-budget indie movie shot and set in Cincinnati and released (in 2016), has turned out to be quite a modern fairy tale. And it’s now being treated like royalty.
Director Anna Rose Holmer, working with co-writers Lisa Kjerulff and Saela Davis, came to Cincinnati with a story about a quiet girl training in boxing at a West End gym but curious about the world of an urban dance team practicing nearby. For their lead character, they chose Royalty Hightower, an 11-year-old Cincinnati girl with captivating stage presence.
As the story veers into unexpected territory, once the team members experience unexplained fainting spells and dangerously violent fits, the movie becomes increasingly strange but consistently compelling. Distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories, it found its way into theaters nationally and has prompted ongoing conversation and praise. That can be seen in the way it has garnered end-of-2016 recognition. Consider these:
The National Board of Review named The Fits one of the ten best independent films of 2016 and chose Hightower as its Female Breakthrough Performer for 2016. She received nominations in the same category from the Chicago Film Critics Association, the Black Reel Awards and the Gotham Independent Film Awards.
This article appears in The Fall Guide.