Naive and over-didactic, but still brimming with infectious energy and a sense of mission that's hard to hate, Jamie Babbit's third feature serves up radical lesbian feminism in teen-movie sauce.
Actually, teens are generally more mature than this; Itty Bitty Titty Committee is like one of those kiddie adventure stories where a ragtag gang of chums foils the baddies and win the day. Only here the baddie is America's sexist, phallocentric, male-dominated cultural hegemony - and these gurlz go by the name of Clits In Action (CIA ).
At the film's first Panorama premiere in Berlin, even the opening credits garnered cheers and applause: IBTC has a gay girl fanbase primed to love it, and within this niche it will do no wrong. Wider distribution is less certain, less because of its social politics, more the dated post-punk, skater-girl aesthetic and relentless bubbliness.
Alternative distribution channels - film clubs, specialised festivals, urban arthouse screens - are the best bet, though the film will attract a wider, less niche youth audience on DVD.
Anna (Diaz) is a shy teen who has just finished with her girlfriend and is working in a breast enhancement clinic while deciding what to do with her life. In a neat twist, Anna's Latino mother is supportive of her daughter's sexual orientation, but Anna is still unsure of herself and woefully lacking in feminist consciousness.
She meets Sadie (Vicius), who is spray-painting feminist slogans on her clinic and is soon introduced to the Clits In Action, who hang out in an artsy post-industrial warehouse space far removed from Anna's suburban home.
Things are complicated by Anna's growing attraction for Sadie, and by the latter's inability to leave her much older partner Courtney. The romantic plot has a cute, photo-romance patina that sits rather oddly with the rad-fem agenda, yet such failure to take itself too seriously is part of IBTC's charm. So for every serious statistic fed to wide-eyed Anna about the repression of women, there's a gay cliche.
Shot on bright, colourful DigiBeta, IBTC rocks along at a cracking pace, emulating visually its girl-punk soundtrack. With the exception of Nicole Vicius, Carly Pope and Melanie Mayron, most of the acting has a gauche, studenty quality that craves a certain indulgence, especially given Babbit is a seasoned TV pro. But this is such an infectiously enthusiastic romp that it mostly gets away with it.
Production company
Power Up
International sales
Power Up
Producers
Andrea Sperling
Stacy Codikow
Lisa Thrasher
Screenplay
Tina Mabry
Abigail Shafran
Cinematography
Christine A Maier
Production design
Christina Hulen
Editor
Jane Abramowitz
Music
Radio Sloan
Main cast
Melonie Diaz
Nicole Vicius
Melanie Mayron
Carly Pope
Deak Evgenikos
Lauren Mollica
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