The Fits — Trailer

source:   oscilloscope.net, youtube.com

added: Wed, Apr 27th '16

First-time writer-director Anna Rose Holmer made quite an impression at this year's Sundance and last year's Venice Film Festival with her atmospheric adolescent drama "The Fits." The Cincinnati-set movie features a breakout performance by 11-year-old newcomer Royalty Hightower as an African-American tomboy who ditches her boxing aspirations to join the local dance drill team, only to witness a strange outbreak of mass hysteria among her young fellow female dancers.

The film, which is part arthouse fable and part urban coming-of-age tale, has since become a critical hit on the festival circuit and was acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories back in January. The indie distributor has now released the film's first theatrical trailer. Watch it above.

"The Fits" will gradually open in select theaters during the month of June, opening first in New York City on June 3rd.

synopsis:
Toni trains as a boxer with her brother at a community center in Cincinnati's West End, but becomes fascinated by the dance team that also practices there. Enamored by their strength and confidence, Toni eventually joins the group, eagerly absorbing routines, mastering drills, and even piercing her own ears to fit in. As she discovers the joys of dance and of female camaraderie, she grapples with her individual identity amid her newly defined social sphere.

Shortly after Toni joins the team, the captain faints during practice. By the end of the week, most of the girls on the team suffer from episodes of fainting, swooning, moaning, and shaking in a seemingly uncontrollable catharsis. Soon, however, the girls on the team embrace these mysterious spasms, transforming them into a rite of passage. Toni fears "the fits" but is equally afraid of losing her place just as she’s found her footing. Caught between her need for control and her desire for acceptance, Toni must decide how far she will go to embody her new ideals.

 

directed by   Anna Rose Holmer

starring   Royalty Hightower

release date   June 3, 2016 (NY); other cities to follow