Confronting Abuse With Dance
By Gordon Durich
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 1/25/23 – The documentary “She Is…” is a survivor’s story. The power of dance.is woven into the story of Isabella Grosso, who suffered sexual abuse and tells her story in her quest to heal. Directed by Zuzana Lova, the powerful film is streaming on many platforms including Amazon Prime, I-Tunes, Google Play and You Tube.
“I met Isabella through performing and auditioning,” said Lova when I interviewed her via phone. “We knew each other and when she started her non-profit (also named She Is), teaching dance sounded perfect . In our first mission trip in 2015, we were teaching 60 girls between 9 and 14 in Thailand.”
A professional dancer from the Czech Republic, she moved in 2006 from Prague to Los Angeles . “The film took seven years to complete and a theatrical release would have been amazing, but we decided to skip festivals and go straight to distribution because we ran out of funds,” said Lova. “We had a lot of family things going on.”
Lova’s major goal was that despite the dark topic of sex trafficking, to make the documentary film “hopeful, light and more accessible” to potential viewers.
Lova said she wanted to dance her whole life and even as a youngster. “I wanted to move to America because there were more opportunities in performing.” Why LA? She said it’s because that’s where the entertainment industry is.
The film has been acclaimed by viewers, who claim it’s a “must watch.”
The dancers involved in the non-profit “She Is…” credits include working with Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Robin Thicke and Janet Jackson. The dancers involved the nonprofit After Care program for the rescued girls are taught by dancers who work in film and television, said Lova.
Shot in Los Angeles and South East Asia, the documentary was exactly what Lova imagined. “Even more. With documentaries you can have a plan but you never know what you’ll get. I love my crew especially Nathan Kim, the Director of Photography, and the sense of discovery.” Kim is also listed as creative producer. Other credits include M.L. Bordner as creative producer, Grosso as production executive, and Mauricio Moreno as production assistant. Twenty-two dancers are featured in the film, including Grosso.