NAACP Image Awards: 'Step' wins best documentary

Amanda Lipitz film tells story of high school step dance team at Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women; doc on President Obama wins in TV category

The hit documentary Step, about members of the "Lethal Ladies" step dance team at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, has been named Outstanding Documentary at the NAACP Image Awards.

The film directed by Amanda Lipitz, which made over $1 mil. during its theatrical release in 2017, triumphed over a field that included I Called Him Morgan, Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities, The Rape of Recy Taylor, and Whose Streets? 

The honor was presented during a pre-telecast event in Pasadena, California Sunday night, where winners in 49 categories were announced. The remaining nine categories will be revealed during the NAACP Image Awards main ceremony tonight, telecast on TV One. 

Members of the step dance team at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women rehearse a routine. Photo from Fox Searchlight Pictures

Step earned a special jury prize for inspirational storytelling at the Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered last year. It was named best documentary of the year by the African-American Film Critics Association and won audience awards at AFI Docs and the Wisconsin Film Festival. 

The NAACP Image Awards nominated five films in a separate Outstanding Documentary - TV category. The History Channel's The 44th President: In His Own Words won that prize, over a field that included HBO's The Defiant Ones, Birth of a Movement (PBS), Black Love (OWN), and What the Health (AUM Films and Media + First Spark Media).

A scene from "The 44th President: In His Own Words." Photo from the History Channel