D.W. Waterson is a Canadian drummer, musician, disc jockey, and now feature film director. They have previously made an acclaimed web series about Toronto club life and electronica called That’s My DJ which focused on the contributions LGBTQ+ people and female coded POC made to the traditionally male industry.
In Backspot, Waterson turns their camera to a sport which has traditionally been seen as an adjunct to male sports – cheerleading. Waterson never for a moment lets the audience forget that cheerleaders are athletes, first and foremost.
Starring Devery Jacobs, Evan Rachel Wood, Noa Diberto, Kudakwashe Rutendo, Thomas Anthony Olajide, and Shannyn Sossamon – Backspot is tough, tender, intelligent and visceral.
Nadine Whitney spoke with D.W. Waterson about queering the gaze and pushing limits.
Nadine Whitney: Riley (Devery Jacobs) is in a battle to be the best. She genuinely loves cheerleading, but she also genuinely loves Amanda (Kudakwashe Rutendo) and Rachel (Noa Diberto, who has played a gymnast before) – yet she becomes willing to physically harm Rachel under Eileen’s (Evan Rachel Wood) instruction. Did you spend a lot of time researching elite performers?
D.W. Waterson: I spent over five years scouting a cheer squad, which we ended up featuring in the film. They’re the only Black-owned cheer squad in all of Canada; Cheer Fusion All-Stars. Working with them was incredible, we wouldn’t have been able to create Backspot without them. Having them be involved so closely ensured that we were able to understand the hard work that goes into cheer and the high stakes of competitions, while nailing the specifics of the cheer world.
NW: Riley is dealing with extreme anxiety. She has what is clinically known as trichotillomania. She goes into dissociative states. Her Mom is also dealing with mental health issues. What made you decide to focus on the need to please and be pleasing? And how those expectations – whether internal or external shape the journey of many people in the film.
DW: Backspot delves into many conversations, about the sport of cheerleading and the toll that it takes, about queer elders (Eileen – Evan Rachel Wood and Devon – Thomas Anthony Olajide) and bridging the gap between generations of queer folks, but it also unpacks pressures and mental health. Riley suffers from anxiety, and it’s not without reason. She is the backspot on her squad, which is arguably one of the hardest and most dangerous positions in cheer. She is at the bottom of the pyramid, holding up the girl’s ankles as they’re hoisted, and is the first to catch the girls as they fall, putting their bodies at physical risk of harm. But Riley also suffers from hereditary anxiety, where her mom Tracy (Shannyn Sossamon) suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder. It’s through these difficult navigations, but ultimately from unexpected queer mentorship, that Riley is able to find a healthier balance with herself, her relationships and the sport that she loves.
NW: Which came first? The music or the script? How much of the film comes from your experiences working as a DJ and seeing people move?
DW: The script and the music unfolded simultaneously. I feel like DJing and directing are very similar, in the sense that you’re trying to get a large group of people on the same page, and to go on a journey together. There were obviously a couple of tracks like “Come On Eileen” that we knew we needed to lock in early. I’m a huge Prodigy fan, and I named the Thunderhawks team after the Prodigy before I even knew I could get that track. But after an impassioned letter to the Prodigy, we were able to license the song and it was one of my personally favorite things to cut in the film; the Thunderhawks cheer montage.
Throughout the scriptwriting process, I was also working and producing my own electronic music that emanated that “jock” feel, to infuse into the film. Songs like “BodyLimit” ft. T Thomason.
NW: A character called Nikki (Madison Seguin) comes with her girlfriend to the sleepover in the auditorium. She says to Riley, Rachel, and Amanda that cheerleading is very “male gazey”. When it comes to Backspot do you think that there is a queer gaze?
DW: The queer gaze has been something I’ve been looking to protect throughout the entire process of creating Backspot. Cheerleaders have too often been viewed through the male gaze, sexualizing and trivializing them. But I feel like being a non-binary and queer director, who admires the fuck out of this sport and the queer actors in the film, it creates a sense of deep respect that bled through the gaze of the film. Being a director, I literally direct the audiences’ eye, and turn it towards where they should be looking, which is moments of pure athleticism and brutality, but also queer joy.
NW: We are living in an age where people are facing threats for simply existing. How important was it to you as a non-binary artist to make a teen centric film which also stars queer folk and people from diverse backgrounds?
DW: In a primarily white, cis and Christian space, we often overlook the queer athletes of color who are the foundation (and dare I say backspot) to the sport. I wanted to reflect my world, and my co-producer Devery Jacobs’ world in this film, and within the sport of cheerleading.
Backspot premiered at TIFF and is currently in select cinemas and is available to rent in certain territories.
