Interview: Anna Rose Holmer on The Fits

Anna Rose Holmer’s The Fits has been receiving rave reviews ever since it made its debut at Sundance earlier this year. In case you’ve missed the reviews, take a read of some of the praise it has received so far here. It sits on Rotten Tomatoes with a 96% rating, and is on Sasha’s Top Ten Contenders of Oscars 2016 http://www.awardsdaily.com/2016/06/11/oscarwatch-the-top-ten-oscar-contenders-of-2016-so-far/the-fits-2/.

Anna Rose Holmer’s writing and directorial debut is a remarkable film. For much of the beginning, the protagonist Toni, played by newcomer Royalty Hightower barely speaks a word. The film is told from her point of view. Toni is something of a tomboy who starts off training with Jermaine, her older brother at the community center. She decides to fit in with the Lionesses, the all girl dance troupe. What we see is Toni’s struggle to fit in, while keeping her individuality. Throughout the film, it’s Hightower’s captivating performance we see, even as the girls suffer from psychogenic fits. Holmer takes risks with this film as a film maker in her lead, her choice of shots, and even her story-telling. I caught up with Holmer to find out about the genesis of the film and how she found Hightower.

AD: I read that this was developed in Venice at the Biennale College Cinema. How did that happen?

Anna Rose Holmer: Venice has a micro budget, micro-timeline for first and second-time directors. We had heard about the program and were really excited about it. We submitted a pitch, they choose 12 film-makers from all over the world. There’s a development lab there that culminates in a live pitch, you submit a whole draft of your screenplay, and they choose three to grant. We were one of the three.

AD: Royalty Hightower gives such an outstanding performance. How did you find her?

ARH: Royalty is incredible. I hope she gets the recognition she deserves for this performance, and it’s beyond exciting to collaborate with her on this. She was actually one of the queue kids, so all of the girls are part of the same dance team. There are a few hundred girls in the real team, and we cast 45 of them in the film including Royalty. She’d been dancing with them since she was 6. We actually met her on day one of casting. It’s such a powerful, commanding and nuanced performance, Royalty is not like Toni. She’s not playing herself by any means. She is a great actor who just happens to be 11-years-old.

She was 9 when she auditioned. She has this incredible capacity to listen and to reflect. Toni is a really challenging part. Mostly, I was excited to work with her. She really is an actor, and that was apparent from the moment we met.

AD: What was the collaboration process like for you?

ARH: For me, that was the most profound and special element of this film. I co-wrote it with two other women, Saela Davis my editor and Lisa Kjerulff my producer. Even from its seed it was about buried voices, finding a meeting ground. I think that’s what’s so great about film, is that it is a collaborative art form. I was just very inspired by my team and their generosity throughout the entire process.

AD: Did you ever disagree and not see eye to eye on things?

ARH: Certainly, that’s what’s so beautiful about it. We needed to defend our ideas for each other and hold each other accountable, and push to strengthen the film. We all felt like ultimately what we were working for was the good of the film. I was really happy because we came from a place of respect.

AD: A lot of the powerful scenes in the film are the ones where she has fits.

ARH: We did a lot of research on mass psychogenic illness conversion disorder. We approached them as dance. We actually approached Celia Rowlson Hall, who workshopped the movement elements with each dancer. Even though they were part of a collective happening, we wanted each moment to be very individual which is why I think they’re so powerful on screen. There are unique experiences from each girl’s perspective.

AD: We first see Toni, she’s a tomboy, later she’s looking for acceptance, and that’s something I could totally relate to. Is that something you or any of the writers went through?

ARH: Yes, we all went through that. Toni is very much a meeting point of the three of our experiences. It’s also a meeting point of four experiences because Royalty also added her voice to who Toni is on screen.

AD: What challenges did you have in getting this off the ground?

ARH: Once Venice got off the ground with their support, things moved very quickly. From first draft to world premiere, it was eleven months. One of the big challenges was the speed at which we were moving. Every decision we made, lived on screen. That was a powerful part of the process.

AD: The way you choose to shoot the film, particularly behind the scenes where you go in and out of focus. What was some of the decision making behind that?

ARH: Every decision was about, what’s Toni’s point of view here? What’s her emotional state? How can we bring the audience into that?

My background is in cinematography, so the collaboration with my DP -Paul Yi, was special. It was exciting to digest the script after we had written it, and now for camera, and the implications of all these scenes. It was so exciting and every shot is about Toni’s POV.

AD: What were some of your influences?

ARH: I was really influenced by Robert Bresson’s work. More recently, Steve McQueen’s Hunger is so poetic and visual. It exercises all the muscles you can when talking about cinema. I think he did extremely well, and that’s been a huge influence for me.

AD: How did it feel like seeing the film for the first time?

ARH: It was really overwhelming. I still cry when I watch it. I don’t know if that’s just my style as a person. The end sequence still makes me cry.

AD: What research did you have to do for the scenes where she has her meltdowns?

ARH: I did almost a year of research for the film. It was so fascinating. Ultimately we saw it as dance, and we allowed ourselves to break from reality and make our own pass for this process. There was no right way to do this.

AD: You play with sound as well. Tell us about that.

ARH: All the tools we use are about a very subjective experience. One of our big references, was Meek’s Cutoff for sound. Only being able to hear what your main character can hear. There might be conversations behind closed doors, or in the distance, and you’re not privy to them because Toni isn’t privy to them. The mystery comes from her isolation.

AD: What was the toughest scene to shoot?

ARH: So many were tough, but the ear piercing scene was tough. We shot out of order, and that was the first scene we shot. It was over two minutes without any cuts. There’s a live gag in the middle and it was the first scene between Royalty and Alexi were doing together, so it was tough for a few reasons.