The documentary film “Breaking Boundaries” explores the question “What does it feel like to be the only one in the room?” The young woman at the center of this question is former rhythmic gymnast Nastasya Generalova, whose life has been captured on film by documentarians Dina Burlis and Melissa Azizi over the course of several years.
Born and raised in California by her single, white, Russian mother (her father is African American), Generalova embraced rhythmic gymnastics at age 4. In the film, she describes her day-to-day life of training, traveling, representing the U.S., and dealing with being the lone Black rhythmic gymnast in most situations (Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles are artistic gymnasts). Her inspiration was ballet dancer Misty Copeland.
“I’m used to cameras because once you become an elite athlete, you always have cameras at competitions,” said Generalova, who was filmed from about 2016 to 2019. “What was different for me was having the cameras at home … It’s interesting watching myself [about] five years later.”
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She saw rhythmic gymnastics as a form of expression. Generalova won gold and silver at the Pan American Championships and was the first Black rhythmic gymnast to win a World Cup medal and several Grand Prix medals. Despite her successes, though, she encountered bias as she rose in the competitive ranks. “There were certain things that were simply out of my control,” she said.
The film concludes with the end of her competitive days — after she fell short of qualifying for the 2020/21 Olympics. Now a New Yorker, Generalova models. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Columbia University and works with One Love Community Fridge in Brooklyn.
Generalova described attending screenings of the film as a journey. “It’s an honor that the people who made this story about me saw something in me,” she said. “It’s been an honor to see how people resonated with the story, whether they’re an athlete or not.”
The film will be screened at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater on Dec. 8 during the 32nd Annual African Diaspora International Film Festival. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion, moderated by USA Gymnastics Hall of Famer Wendy Hilliard, a trailblazing competitive rhythmic gymnast and founder of the Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation.
“What’s highlighted in the film is that I said, ‘They say I should do it one way or I should look like this, but I try to prove them wrong,’” said Generalova. “Through my 18 years [in the sport], eventually people began to remember me for my own style … I want the audience to remember me for me, not for something somebody told me to be.”
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