Girl

Lara, a 15-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina, moves cities with her family to attend a prestigious dance school. The physical and emotional strains of perfecting the art are coupled with the fact that Lara faces unique challenges in life, having being born a boy. GIRL is an unnerving look at the adolescent frustrations Lara faces, inspired by Nora Monsecour, a trans female dancer from Belgium.

AroView: This Belgian drama was a hit at Cannes, where it won the Caméra d’Or award. Transsexual teenager Lara is committed to becoming a professional ballerina but faces much more than the usual adolescent challenges when her body fails to conform to the discipline in the way she hopes.

The message that trans identity is something you have to work for, or indeed put your body through hell to prove, is not a healthy one, and the film veers into “trans trauma porn” territory with it’s unrelenting focus on body shame. However it still represents a small step towards more progressive representation of transgender characters on screen.

“With enlivening performances and thoughtful film making, Girl has the power to not just change lives but reinvigorate your belief in cinema.” ~ The Playlist.