STEP
Director: Amanda Lipitz
Producer: Steven Cantor, Amanda Lipitz
U.S. 2016, 83 minutes
Great Barrington — What an awesome opening night for the Berkshire International Film Festival at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. After so much depressing news – the audience at the Mahaiwe Theater was ready for some inspiration. And they got it in full force!
Pat Fili-Krushel, chair of the BIFF board, reminded us of how our community has been brought together by this extraordinary, wide-ranging festival, exhibiting films from 23 countries, from Afghanistan to Chile to Sweden. She explored the importance of film and how it is “powerful, captures our attention, entertains us, moves us, surprises and astonishes us and maybe even makes us a bit uncomfortable.” What I have always believed that film does — demonstrating our shared humanity — we need more than ever.
She introduced the “unstoppable, remarkable” Kelley Ryan Vickery — founder and director of BIFF — a beloved member of our community. Kelley has created this gift, bringing to the Berkshires the best of independent films from around the world. How this film festival has grown in the past 12 years is a story in itself…we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Kelley. She described the stories of these films reflecting different themes of our times, “political, environmental, socially active, combined with passion, music, love, and beauty”.
Jane Iredale, sponsor of this opening night, spoke about BIFF becoming a leading film festival in the U.S.and Kelley’s extraordinary contribution to our community. She noted that the walk from St. James Place to the Mahaiwe Theatre (both now venues for BIFF) bridged two lovingly restored landmarks in our community.
Steven Cantor, producer of the opening night film, STEP, called the film an example of “girl power” which amused him since a male was sent to represent the film. STEP is a powerful story about what the human spirit is capable of. Amanda Lipitz is the dynamic first-time director of this film that won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Inspirational Filmmaking at Sundance.
STEP is a moving documentary featuring three girls in the first graduating class of this charter school, Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women (BLSYW). They are all lower-income African-American girls who need the support of an amazing college advisor, principal and step teacher (who lived on the same street as Freddie Gray) to achieve the school’s goal of all graduates being accepted at a college. Their senior year was enmeshed with protests regarding the police-caused death of Freddie Gray and the ever-growing Black Lives Matter Movement.
The three girls profiled all had extremely strong relationships with family and school. Blessin, beautiful and troubled with a difficult relationship with her unstable mother, had started the step dance group when they entered the school in sixth grade. (Step — if you are unfamiliar with it — is an African-inspired mix of hip-hop, tap and gymnastics.) Along the way she had many struggles with grades, attendance and her love-life. But the incredible attention her college advisor, Paula, gave her — provides one of the most inspiring moments of the film. At one point, Blessin realized that, “step taught me if you come together with a group of powerful women the impact will be immense”.
Cori was the most academic of the three and had aspirations to go to Johns Hopkins University, which seemed, at the time, out of her reach financially. The support she got from BLSYW was wonderful. She also had a remarkable family and she described her mother as a “magic wand in human form”. How many of us would love to hear that from our daughters! (And Cory’s mom was only 15 when she gave birth to her.)
Tayla was the only child of a very involved mother in the step program who often embarrassed her daughter. But her fierce mother’s love and devotion to Tayla helped her get back on track and into college.
The movie’s climax was the Bowie State Step Competition which included the “Lethal Ladies” of BLSYW’s routine with a “hands up, don’t shoot” call out. It is another reminder of the many undercurrents that could have pulled these girls down but “yet they persevered.” And to help with the Hollywood ending — they won First Prize!
That all three got into college (Cori got a full-ride to Johns Hopkins) underscored the Black Girl Magic theme that I noted on one of the graduate caps. That theme, which Michelle Obama has spoken about, “celebrates the beauty, power, and resilience of black women.” Certainly this aspirational movie brings this hashtag to life.
Lindsey Walker, in Blavity (“the digital voice of black millennials”) stated, “All of us can tap into the magic that lies within, its just a matter of seeing it.” If all our children could get a community around them — how much more would they aspire to and achieve? Everyone left the theater opening night inspired and moved by what these girls accomplished with a “village” behind them.
