Itty Bitty Titty Committee is the punchy title of the new film directed by Jamie Babbit (But I’m a Cheerleader) and produced by the LA-based POWER UP team. Starring a mostly young, female, LGBT cast, the movie captures the exploits and love entanglements of feminist activist group the C(I)A (Clits in Action). Both a comedy and political animal, Itty Bitty encapsulates all that it is to be a lesbian feminist activist in the modern-day US. To the background of a varied and energetic soundtrack featuring riot grrrl musicians Sleater Kinney, Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, among others, Itty Bitty is opening eyes and minds in various corners of the globe, including Tokyo, where the film was selected by the 2007 Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival as its opening movie. Even in Tokyo, a city where lesbian activism is subdued in comparison to its western counterparts, Itty Bitty is already contributing to cultivating a new generation of passionate lesbian feminist activists.

From beginning to end, Itty Bitty pulls you in with its powerful soundtrack and moody, intense atmosphere and takes you on a rollercoaster ride through the eyes of young lesbian Anna. At first under-confident and shy, her impromptu encounter with radical feminist Sadie inspires her to take the opportunity to enter a world where she eventually discovers herself and her politics. 

From the director: “Itty Bitty is the story of a girl’s blooming political consciousness and ascent or descent (depending on how you see it) into political extremism. Anna is a young apolitical receptionist at a plastic surgery clinic whom has recently broken up with her girlfriend and been rejected from college. Anna’s family is readying for her sister’s upcoming marriage, and Anna is feeling lost and miserable. One night, Anna meets Sadie, a radical feminist and member of a guerilla action group called Clits in Action (C(I)A). Intrigued by this flirtatious girl, Anna gets ensnared in the group, and eventually she surpasses her feminist mentor and leads the C(I)A to its most radical act. By the end of the film, Anna is truly empowered and is transformed into a womyn with a “y”."

In July 2007, Itty Bitty was screened twice at The Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (festival opening film) and once at the Kansai Queer Film Festival. It is touring the film festival circuit worldwide and was theatrically released in September 2007.  

Cast 

Despite financial restrictions, the movie managed to attract a variety of actresses hand-picked from local LGBT and punk scenes in the US, including relative unknowns Melonie Diaz and Nicole Vicius, big household names such as Daniela Sea and Guinevere Turner from popular lesbian TV show The L Word, lesbian movie stalwart Deak Evgenikos, major-star-in-the making Carly Pope (TV shows Popular, Dirt) and even model-actress Jenny Shimizu in a surprise cameo role.

From the director: “I wanted to cast girls that actually came from this punk world and so I found most of my cast in New York rather than Los Angeles. My casting director Carmen Cuba was amazing at finding the actors through diverse means.

“The casting director found Aggie, played by Lauren Mollica, on My Space and she is a professional skateboarder from an all girl skate gang. Lauren is also a DJ that plays at mostly lesbian, trans clubs and is certainly familiar with the world of the C(I)A. Meat and Sadie, played by Deak Evgenikos and Nicole Vicius, are also downtown New Yorkers who spend most of their time in punk clubs and dive bars. Anna, played by Melonie Diaz, another downtown New Yorker, took a leave of absence at NYU to make this film. She was just getting interested in women’s studies and had never seen punk slamdancing or bodysurfing before. This curiosity in feminism and ignorance of the punk scene, made her an ideal fit for Anna. Melonie told me during the shoot that the Hole CD I had given her (Live Through This) fueled the character’s fierce independent drive. Seeing Patty Schemel, the drummer from Hole, playing on stage the day Melanie had to slamdance and body surf the crowd, gave her the courage to leap on total strangers and trust they didn’t drop her. I encouraged all the actors to wear their own wardrobe and improvise their dialogue to make it more their own.”

Melonie Diaz
“Anna” – protagonist, shy girl working at liposuction clinic who turns radical lesbian feminist, falls for Sadie and entangles with Aggie in a drunken moment
Key lines: “This is Twin Palms plastic surgery clinic. Enhance our bank account, and enhance your chance of cancer and deformity. This is Anna, how can I not help you?” “Don’t worry I’ll teach you… I won’t date you, but I’ll teach you…” (to Sadie)

Nicole Vicius
“Sadie” – girlfriend of Courtney and head of C(I)A; her entanglement with Anna forces her to question her commitment to her politics and her relationship
Key lines: “Everyone’s gotta have insurance.” “You’re cute Anna, but you’ve a lot to learn. I’ll teach you though, don’t worry...”

Carly Pope
“Shulamith (Shulie)” – man-eating feminist powerhouse who turns more than just a little bi-curious on meeting Calvin
Key lines: “This isn’t a dating service, you know. This is a war, Anna. Women’s lives are at stake. I don’t need you coming in here distracting the soldiers.” “Forget gay marriage! Forget straight marriage! I say we abolish all marriage!”

Melanie Mayron
“Courtney” – older girlfriend of Sadie and ‘power lesbian’ head of Women for Change; Sadie’s entanglement with Anna forces her to question her relationship
Key line: “Oh god, Sadie, when are you gonna get some goddamn guts? Come on! Just tell me the truth, ok? Have you been faithful to me?”

Daniela Sea
“Calvin” – ex-military bomb expert who inspires Shulamith to question her sexuality
Key line: “I just like to blow shit up.”

Guinevere Turner
“Marcy Maloney” – parody TV talk show host
Key line: “We need to lose the dick!”

Jenny Shimizu
“Laurel” – disgruntled rent-payer of the apartment which serves as C(I)A base
Key line: “Oh god – another baby dyke come to save the world.”

Jimmi Simpson
“Chris” – Anna’s boss at liposuction clinic
Key line: “Anna, I hired you because you’re good with computers, not because you’re good at writing tampon poetry!”

Leslie Grossman
“Maude” – works at liposuction clinic with Anna
Key line: “Do you know how many people would kill to get a 50% discount on a boob job? It’s like Christmas… but for your boobs!”

Deak Evgenikos
“Meat” – resident artist and C(I)A website manager, previous victim of Sadie’s exploits
Key lines: “I put a tracker on the [C(I)A] website… as it turns out, the only people visiting the site are the people in this room, right now.”

Lauren Mollica

“Aggie” – sweet and aloof FTM, becomes unwittingly entangled with Anna

Sadie (Nicole Vicius), Anna (Melonie Diaz), Aggie (Lauren Mollica), Meat (Deak Evgenikos) and Shulamith (Carly Pope), aka Clits in Action

For Itty Bitty, a mostly female crew complemented the mostly female cast.

From the director: “I was blessed to have an almost all female crew to work with on Itty Bitty… we really tried to mirror the C(I)A’s structure and actions in the making of the film. The crew and the sexual politics and entanglements that were happening while we filmed inspired me everyday to tell the story of what happens when a group of girls tries to change the world.”

Director 

Read more about director Jamie Babbit on SJ 

Read more about POWER UP on SJ 

The soundtrack is a major driving force behind bringing the themes and mood of Itty Bitty to the audience. 

From the director: “The movie was also inspired by the riot grrrl music from the early 1990s. Bands like Heavens to Betsy, Bikini Kill, and Hole from Olympia, Washington changed my ideas about feminism and politics, and I wanted to create a film that was the cinematic equivalent of this music. The Kill Rock Stars record label in Olympia Washington has the majority of political girl punk music used in the film. The soundtrack includes bands like Heavens to Betsy, Sleater-Kinney, Team Dresh, The Need, Slumber Party, Bikini Kill and other politically charged music.

“The music to me was one of the crucial elements to the film as it was the major inspiration to make the film in the first place. Other artists like Peaches and Le Tigre from other labels came onboard to give the movie its charged punk rhythm. The composer, Radio Sloan, is a current member of Peaches band and also has formerly played with Courtney Love and The Need. She was raised in Olympia Washington and is a vital component to the girl punk movement and currently teaches young girls to play music at rock camp in Portland.”

Through Itty Bitty, Jamie Babbit presents a variety of themes including political activism, relationships and self-empowerment.

“In exploring the themes to the film, I kept asking myself “Why do people become extremists?” For me, every character has a different reason for joining the C(I)A. Some characters were looking for community, looking for connection--both sexually and spiritually. Some women were looking for a mentor or looking for definition, and some for a free couch to crash on.

“I also wanted to examine a character that refuses to make political compromises but is willing to make deep personal compromises every day to pay the bills. This seemed to be an obvious leit motif in my research of unpaid political revolutionaries. Where every individual compromises and draws the line is very different and complicated.

“Itty Bitty also touches on different generational approaches to changing the political structure. Courtney’s group Women for Change (like the real life National Organization for Women) uses board meetings, pie charts, and civilized legal political commentary in mainstream press, to try to change the status quo. The girls from the C(I)A believe more in direct, comedic, illegal action as a means of changing the power structure. I wanted to explore the pros and cons of both methods and how each can be effective at transforming, and I also wanted to look at the friction between the two communities.

“Finally, I also wanted to look at the journey of empowerment. Anna is clearly searching in the beginning of the film for an identity. Being gay isn’t that radical anymore as families from big cities embrace gay culture and their gay children. The punk feminist world gives Anna a way to rebel against her family and to call herself “different” and “independent”. Anna breaks away from her family and Sadie becomes her political mentor helping her to question the patriarchy that surrounds her. However, it is only by Anna’s final disillusionment from her mentor that she truly becomes empowered and able to stand alone and strong at the end of the film. Sadly, it is Sadie’s lack of breaking away from her mentor, Courtney, that keeps Sadie the coward she is until the last minutes of the film.

On political activism, the director further comments:

“I have always been interested in revolutionary extremists. Discouraged by the political apathy of the gay community and the reluctance of young girls to call themselves feminists, I wanted to make a film that shined a new light on these issues.

“The Guerilla Girls were very active in the art world when I went to Columbia University in the early 1990’s. Their guerilla masks and spray painted assault on the male dominated museums were both comedic and effective. The political group in the film, Clits in Action, was partly inspired by these antics, and in fact, one of the first meetings I had on Itty Bitty Titty Committee was with a Guerilla Girl to get permission to use their slogans and artwork in the film. I was also inspired by the political actions of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). One of my closest friends was a longtime member of PETA and was responsible for spray painting furs, throwing urine at medical researchers, and throwing tofu pies in the face of fashion designers and National Health Spokespeople. Her stories always involved lengthy romantic entanglements and much of her excitement about PETA was led more by romantic intrigue than her true love of animals.

“Lizzie Borden’s film, Born in Flames, in which revolutionary feminists take over the world and in the final scene blow up the world trade center, was also an influence on Itty Bitty. In the wake of all the political turmoil in this country and in the world, I thought it was time to reexamine political extremism and how people are driven to action by the apathy and frustrating circumstances around them. I’m also interested in the way sex and personal connections equally drive people to these extremist groups and how they can unravel because of personal issues as well.”