© Diaphana
Lara, 15, dreams of becoming a prima ballerina. With her father’s support, she throws herself wholeheartedly into this quest for the absolute. But her body does not bend so easily to the discipline Lara imposes on it, as she was born a boy.
Scenario : Lukas Dhont, Angelo Tijssens
Cinematography : Frank van den Eeden
Sound : Yanna Soentjens
Editing : Alain Dessauvage
Music : Valentin Hadjadj
Cinematography : Frank van den Eeden
Sound : Yanna Soentjens
Editing : Alain Dessauvage
Music : Valentin Hadjadj
Production : Frakas Productions
Overcoming all the expectations associated with such a subject, young director Lukas Dhont has taken a very gentle approach to filming his heroine. And that is what is surprising at first, to see that Lara’s family and friends are understanding and see her as a girl, and that her father (the pitch-perfect Arieh Worthalter) is very encouraging. In short, that the violence does not come from the outside world. Girl avoids the pitfalls of a themed film whose issues swallow up everything in its path. On the contrary, Dhont takes care to capture ordinary days and gestures, filming marvellous scenes of family intimacy and the complicity between a father and his children. The dream of metamorphosis is caught in the net of everyday life, and that is what makes it so credible, so right. (Murielle Joudet; Le Monde)�