ROCKS, created collaboratively by a mostly female cast and creative team, is a film that leaves a permanent impression. ROCKS’ impact is two-fold. Firstly, it is a story full of hope and joy that captures the essence of friendship. Secondly, it is a film made with immense generosity – a collaborative endeavour that everyone who took part in is proud of and sets a precedent for other filmmakers.

I was drawn to ROCKS from the moment I saw the poster. I saw myself and my city and that was enough to convince me that I had to see this film. The diversity of the young actors is remarkable only because it’s so rarely seen in film, not because it’s an unusual sight for any Londoner. I would be remiss not to mention what an important film ROCKS is for this very reason: ROCKS is, for many women like myself, the first time we’ll be seeing ourselves on the big screen.

Set in East London, the film follows teenager Rocks, a young girl with big dreams of starting her own make-up business and a great set of friends. Her world changes when one day she returns home from school to find that her mother is gone, leaving some money and a note saying she’s sorry.

Director Sarah Gavron and Producer Faye Ward discussed the idea of making a film with and about teenage girls, and recognised early on that such a film would need to be created in a collaborative way. The young cast, who had the experience of being teenage girls, and other creatives’ voices, influenced the filmmaking process. I spoke with Anu Henriques, Associate Director of ROCKS, who formed was involved from the very early stages of the film.

“ROCKS is one story of hundreds of thousands of stories that we could have told that centres young Black and brown women from London,” Anu remarks. “Hopefully people walk away [from seeing the film] feeling encouraged to tell their own story and question why it has taken this long for us to have our stories told in this way.”

The creative team initially set out on an extensive development stage which involved research and work-shopping with young Londoners across girls’ comprehensives and youth hubs. It was in the midst of this process that writer Teresa Ikoko shared a story idea that resonated with the team and young cast. Ikoko describes the story as a love letter to her older sister and the Black women she was raised with. On sharing her idea with the creative team and the cast, Anu recalls, “[Teresa] shared it in such a generous way that meant that we were able to kind of bring our own love letters to the table as well.” And so, a project they could take towards production was born. Ikoko, along with writer Claire Wilson, set to work on the story arc of the film.

The entire creative team had the chance to share their opinions and ideas for different scenes. “In some of the workshops we ran we would stick up every single story beat on the walls,” Anu recounts. “I imagine this is one of the most nerve-wracking things as a writer, to kind of put your heart on a wall and then have people pick it apart and put it back together again. But [Ikoko and Wilson] were very generous in offering that up and creating a space where everyone felt like their voice was valued and their voice mattered and what they brought to the table was valued.”

This approach is radical for many reasons. The film industry is hierarchical and many openly sneer at the idea of any person with an assigned ‘role’ stepping out of their responsibilities and having input elsewhere. The ROCKS team instead insisted on the cast and creatives sharing their thoughts. The results are so clearly held with pride by everyone involved in the creation. As Anu says, “It was a brilliant challenge, trying to flatten the hierarchy in those creative storytelling spaces.”

“There’s a real issue in the industry of recognition of labour and recognition of expertise,” Anu continues. “What I hope is that the film, alongside all the other conversations around the narrative and themes, will also spark a conversation about how creatives and how storytellers are credited in those spaces. I hope that, in the future, we can find ways to be even more accurate in the crediting, whether that means being credited as a collective or something like that.”

The outstanding central cast of young women in the film mostly consists of first-time actors: some came out of the work-shopping stage and others from open auditions. The actors established friendships with one another prior to filming and as a result have incredible on-screen chemistry. “We had done such a long period of workshops with the young women that we were working with that, by the time we got onto set, there was such familiarity and such trust between the creative team and the cast. The young women improvised a lot of the dialogue on set, and they really guided some of the scenes as well,” Anu tells me.

The unconventional making and casting of the film required a thoughtful and deliberate approach to hiring the crew. The creative team were keen to ensure that the young actors would be able to imagine themselves behind the camera as well as in front. “So there were choices that were made to ensure that the crew and the HODs [Heads of Department] were reflective of the women in the film.”

Who owns a story? Who has the right to tell a certain story? These are questions that creep up often with regards to projects that elevate experiences from marginalised communities. Gavron and Ward recognised early on that the only way to authentically tell a story about young women from East London is to invite that group to the storytelling table. “So much more can be gained from collaborative spaces, I think, in storytelling, because the value of bringing different people to the table, the value of hearing different voices is always going to add to a story rather than take away from it,” Anu adds.

Most films do not show the world as it is and there are so many stories that still need to be told. Watching ROCKS was the first time that I really felt viscerally what representation can mean to a person, old or young – what it actually feels like to behold a character who looks like you or has lived a life like you. It is an inspiring and validating feeling.

Towards the end of our chat, I quickly ask Anu her thoughts on the recent announcement made by the Academy that filmmakers will have to meet a detailed inclusion and diversity guideline, starting 2024, in order for their work to be eligible for a Best Picture prize. “I’m a full believer that diversity is possibly the easiest thing you could do – the laziest thing you can do in some ways,” Anu comments. “If we’re talking about infrastructural change, diversity is the tip of the iceberg. It’s not the bulk of the problem by any means. If we’re really talking about how you change storytelling, how you change who’s represented in storytelling, how you change who is awarded for storytelling, right, you need to really unpack the whole infrastructure and not just need to have a certain number of Black and brown voices behind or in front of the camera.”

At the heart of ROCKS is a universal theme that will resonate with everyone: the power of friendship and hope. It is difficult not to root for these young people from the get-go. The unabashed displays of youth, the confidence, the happiness. ROCKS is a feat and a reminder that we’ll all be alright because the kids are alright. And the collaborative process behind its making sets a precedent for future filmmaking.

ROCKS is showing in select cinemas nationwide from 18 September 2020. Book your tickets here.

Photo Credit: ROCKS by Sarah Gavron