"I'm intensely interested in race relations and especially intrigued by the social tensions that exist between white and black women in America," says award-winning filmmaker Emily Abt about the subject of her first narrative film, Toe to Toe. "I was also inspired by the disturbing fact that interracial friendships end at age 14 for 87 percent of Americans -- that goes against the way we like to think of America." Abt is at Sundance, where the film has just premiered. Set in Washington D.C., Toe to Toe follows the turbulent friendship of two high school seniors at opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. Tosha, a spirited African-American, lives in low-income housing with a family struggling to make ends meet; while Jesse, an upper middle class blonde, attempts to make up for her mother's absence by sleeping around. "They're truth pillars -- they're not afraid of conflict,"
says Abt, 34. Despite being white and blonde, she says she identifies more with Tosha. "I organize compulsively, just like Tosha. I guess that's not too artsy, but it helps me calm down when I'm a ball of stress."
The "messy and complicated" relationship between the two girls in Toe to Toe proves both realistic and extremely endearing. Thanks to its frank approach to race relations, critics have dubbed the film a beacon of "New Obama Cinema" -- a category Abt is thrilled to occupy. "I do think things are changing, and [electing] Obama as our president really signals that," says Abt, who moved to New York from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to attend NYU when she was 18. She has since written, directed and produced two social-issue docs through her company Pureland Pictures. "My background in documentary has been good preparation for Toe to Toe, because making low-budget, social-issue documentaries forces you to embrace happy accidents and roll with the punches." No accidents here, just a strong film fueled by smart convictions that addresses race with courage and nuance.
