SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

BACKSTORY: How She Move
By Ronke Idowu Reeves

Both in independent and Hollywood films, there are precious few leading roles for black women and that is something screenwriter Annemarie Morais wants to change — particularly for girls and teenagers. The lack of diversity in young adult stories served as the inspiration for Morais’ first feature script How She Move. Directed by Ian Iqbal Rashid, this coming of age story follows Raya (Rutina Wesley), a black Canadian high school student who rediscovers her passion for step dancing after the death of her older sister. “You could probably count on one hand the stories in film about young black women by black women and still have extra fingers left over,” Morais said. “No one is telling their story and I have four nieces that need to see themselves somewhere. They have no one to look to and say, ‘That’s me.’ That propelled me to do this story. It was time.”

How She Move weaves a narrative of family loss, teen angst, and the subsequent pressures of a burgeoning adulthood into a visually arresting tapestry. Through the art and tradition of step dancing Raya not only discovers her own self-worth and determination, while paying tribute to her sister, she also learns how to reach Michelle (Tracey Armstrong), a nemesis who becomes a friend, and about the importance of loyalty to her childhood friend Bishop (Dwain Murphy.) Stepping, which is more of a high school rite of passage in Canada than the fraternity/sorority-based recreational activity is in the States, not only reinforces the community around her, but the cash competitions also become a possible financial means for Raya to pursue a higher education.

“No one is telling their story and I have four nieces that need to see themselves somewhere. They have no one to look to and say, ‘That’s me.’ That propelled me to do this story. It was time.”

— Annemarie Morais, dir. How She Move

Morais began her film career in front of the camera when she appeared in Mike Newell’s mini-series Common Ground as a teenager. “It was the first time I’d seen people with careers and jobs in the entertainment industry and it was awe-inspiring,” Morais explained. “Growing up a black Jamaican girl [in Canada, filmmaking] wasn’t one of the job opportunities that came up around the dinner table. Seeing that was life changing for me.”

She made the switch from actress to writer when, “I thought, I can’t keep playing black-angry-girl or black-best-friend forever.” After attending York University in Canada, Morais went to film school in Europe and “really fell in love with writing.” The five years that followed her formal education were made up of the usual hard-knock school of paying dues. Morais worked as everything from a PA on Due South, a Paul Haggis Canadian series, to mailman to armed security dispatcher. “I did anything that would let me go home and write.”

Like its predecessor David LaChappelle’s doc Rize (Sundance 2005), this dramatic feature was born from a documentary short. Steppin, which Morais completed while at York, chronicled a co-ed step team prepping for a competition and her 10-year community work with junior high school students. And while Morais admits to having “no rhythmic inclinations whatsoever” it did not stop her from falling in love with the musical art form of step dancing. “I thought stepping was incredible, visual, powerful, and community-inspiring. I really thought that there was a film in that somewhere.”