Girl

Doors open 7.00pm (5.00pm Sundays). The feature filmmaking debut from writer-director Lukas Dhont, GIRL is an extraordinarily moving coming-of-age tale about identity and the journey to becoming who you’re meant to be. Determined 15-year-old Lara (an astonishing performance from newcomer Victor Polster) is a young woman who is fiercely committed to becoming a professional ballerina. She throws herself into this quest at a new school, but finds the usual frustrations and challenges of adolescence are heightened as her body does not bend to easily to the strict ballet discipline because she was born a boy. Though supported by her family, Lara’s adolescent frustrations and impatience are heightened as she prepares for gender reassignment surgery, pushing her body to its limits. Based on empowering real-life experiences, the award-winning GIRL is a powerful and sensitively told story about the nuances of growing up transgender and the struggle that can motivate or define that process. Camera d'Or for best first feature and Queer Palm at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.