STEP
An all-girls high school step team chase their dreams in spite of structural challenges
2017 | Running Time: 84 minutes | Rating: PG
STEP follows an all-girls Baltimore step team as they get ready for a big competition and submit their college applications. Chronicling the trials and triumphs of the seniors on the step team, the documentary shows the pressures these girls are under as they prepare to be the first graduating class of their high school the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, and the first in their families to go to college. The challenges of racial inequalities and living in poverty backdrop the documentary which includes the riots in Baltimore following Freddie Gray’s death in police custody. STEP premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Director/Producer: Amanda Lipitz; Producer: Steven Cantor; Executive Producers: Paul G. Allen, Dan Cogan, Barbara Dobkin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Michael Flaherty, Jannat Gargi, Phillip Glasser, Valerie McGowan, Debra McLeod, Jenny Raskin, Brenda J. Robinson, Ann Rubenstein Tisch, Scott Rudin, Regina K. Scully, Jay Sears, Andrew Tisch, Carole Tomko
Sundance Film Festival 2017: U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Inspirational Filmmaking, Grand Jury Prize for Documentary (nomination)
Wisconsin Film Festival 2017: Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
Seattle International Film Festival 2017: Women in Cinema Lena Sharpe Award
Image Awards 2018: Image Award for Outstanding Documentary (Film)
Film Club’s The Lost Weekend 2017: Lost Weekend Award for Best Documentary
Critics Choice Documentary Awards 2017: Best Song in a Documentary
Cinetopia Film Festival 2017: Audience Award for Documentary
African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) 2017: AAFCA Award for Best Documentary
AFI Docs Festival 2017: Audience Award for Feature Documentary
Women Film Critics Circle Awards 2017: WFCC Award for Best Documentary by or About Women, Josephine Baker Award (nomination)
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards 2017: WAFCA Award for Best Documentary (nomination)
Stockholm Film Festival 2017: Bronze Horse for Best Documentary (nomination)
Seattle International Film Festival 2017: Golden Space Needle Award for Best Documentary, Futurewave Youth Jury Award for Best Feature Film (nomination)
Seattle Film Critics Awards 2017: Best Documentary (nomination)
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2017: PFCS Award for Best Documentary (nomination)
Phoenix Critics Circle 2017: PCC Award for Best Documentary Film (nomination)
North Texas Film Critics Association, US 2018: NTFCA Award for Best Documentary (nomination)
Melbourne International Film Festival 2017: People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary (nomination)
Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2018: HFCS Award for Best Documentary Feature (nomination)
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2017: Audience Award for Best Documentary
Detroit Film Critics Society, US 2017: DFCS Award for Best Documentary (nomination)
Critics Choice Documentary Awards 2017: Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best First Documentary (nomination)
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US 2018: Cinema Eye Audience Choice Prize (nomination)
Central Ohio Film Critics Association 2018 (nomination)
COFCA Award for Best Documentary (nomination)
Alliance of Women Film Journalists 2018: AWFJ EDA Award for Best Documentary
“Step is a story about relationships. And how even the most challenging family ties shape us into the people we are destined to become.”
GLOBE AND MAIL