Director and writer Charlotte Glynn grew up in Pittsburgh in the era after the industrial boom. Her most recent film, “The Gymnast,” evokes that time with a ringing authenticity.
The third of her films set in Pittsburgh, “The Gymnast” has its North American premiere April 10 at the Miami Film Festival. This festival showing follows its world premiere at the end of January in Holland, at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
The 84-minute-long feature follows 16-year-old gymnast Monica (Britney Wheeler) in 1993 Pittsburgh. Living in a former mill town, she’s excelling at the sport with Olympics ambition — but a serious injury on the mats threatens everything. She must face the prospect of her whole life changing at a time where the city is also facing a shift in its economy. The movie also explores her relationship with her father, who must face a post-steel life in the Steel City.
“TheGynmast” was the only American film in the Tiger Competition at the Rotterdam festival. “The fact that we got to share this film that’s about Pittsburgh in an international context was awesome. I’m excited about the fact that it’s regional, it’s a really small Pittsburgh story,” Glynn said. “People connected to the story and the experiences that characters had. There was also a feeling that the story of Monica and her father spoke to a larger story of the falsehoods perpetuated by the idea of the ‘American Dream.’ ”
“I can’t wait for our North American premiere at Miami. I’m very interested in how the film with be received by a very different audience,” she continued. “It’s nerve wracking and liberating to work for so many years of a film and then to finally set it into the world.”
Glynn, who moved to Pittsburgh as a pre-teen in the 1990s, attended Reizenstein Middle School and Allderdice High School. It was on her first day of high school that she met her best friend, who became the inspiration for “The Gymnast.”
That best friend also lent a helping hand for the production, which filmed in Southwestern Pennsylvania in 2023. “We worked together developing the gymnastics scenes,” Glynn said. “And then, she gave me a ton of stuff that ended up being set decoration for Monica’s room.”
The pair also worked together on the gymnastics scenes, which were primarily filmed at the YMCA in Greensburg.
Glynn has been working on “The Gymnast” on and off for 12 years, meeting inevitable delays such as the covid pandemic and the entertainment industry strikes of 2023. Principal photography with actors, including Ethan Embry and Margarita Levieva, occurred in Pittsburgh during the winter following the strikes.
Glynn said that the local people working in film were amazing when it came to supporting the filming. “People just wanted to be working, it was a hard time,” she said.
“The Gymnast” took so long to come together that she had to age up Monica’s character, she said. When the project began, the actor who plays the main role was 12. Now she’s in her first year of college. “For Britney, it’s really such a significant portion of life that she’s been connected,” Glynn said.
Wheeler, who’s from upstate New York, is a competitive gymnast who performed all the action in the film. She’s pursuing acting in New York while attending college for acting and directing. “I am thrilled for Britney. She fully committed to the film,” said Glynn.
Glynn’s previous films are “RachelIs,” a 2009 documentary about her developmentally disabled sister, Rachel, turning 21 and seeking to live on her own. Her 2014 film “The Immaculate Reception” takes place on a December 1972 afternoon in Pittsburgh, with a family watching a certain Steelers playoff game and a 16-year-old boy coming of age.
The making of “The Gymnast” was been a long and emotional journey — one that Glynn feels reflects the themes of the film.
“When I think about the process, it’s just a testament to resilience,” she said. “There’s a certain amount of madness to make a film like this because everything is saying you should give up.”
“I’m excited to let it do its thing, and then I can make other films,” she said.