God Help the Girl
M
UK, 2014
Genre: Drama, Romance, Musical
Language: English
Director: Stuart Murdoch
Starring: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Pierre Boulanger
What's it about?
Life has never been easy for Eve, but this troubled young girl has a talent and songwriting becomes her way forward. Through her passion for music, she’s led to Glasgow where she meets James and Cassie, two kindred spirits each at a crossroads of their own. Together they storm the city’s music scene as their lives and lyrics intertwine. What follows is a toe-tapping, heart-warming story of renaissance, friendship and romance over a long, dream-like summer. Wonderfully twee, God Help The Girl is a musical film written and directed by Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian.
[link title="God Help the Girl: Stuart Murdoch and Emily Browning interview " url="node/14550"]
[link title="God Help the Girl Review " url="node/19303"]
The Motorcycle Diaries
M
Argentina, 2004
Genre: Drama, Adventure, Biography
Language: Spanish
Director: Walter Salles
Starring: Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo De La Serna, Mercedes Morán, Mía Maestro
What's it about?
In January 1952, the almost 30-year-old biochemist Alberto Granado and his younger friend, the 23-year-old student close to finishing his medical degree, Ernesto Guevara, set off from Buenos Aires on an old but treasured Norton 500 for an adventure through Latin America. By the time they get to Machu Picchu, the middle class young men have begun to see Latin America through eyes that have been opened to poverty and oppression, high-handed big business and the sheer hardship of daily life. Directed by Walter Salles, The Motorcycle Diaries is heartfelt and profound in its rendering of the formative experiences that turn Ernesto Guevara into the famous revolutionary ‘Che’.
52 Tuesdays
MA15+
Australia, 2014
Genre: Drama, Family
Language: English
Director: Sophie Hyde
Starring: Mario Späte, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Del Herbert-Jane
What's it about?
Sixteen-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans to gender transition and their time together becomes limited to Tuesday afternoons. Filmed over the course of a year, once a week, every week – only on Tuesdays – these unique filmmaking rules bring a rare authenticity to this emotionally charged exploration of desire, responsibility and transformation.
[link title="52 Tuesdays Review" url="node/13809"]
[link title="52 Tuesdays: Sophie Hyde interview" url="node/14298"]
[link title="The extraordinary story behind 52 Tuesdays" url="node/16409"]
Theeb
M
United Kingdom, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, 2014
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Adventure
Language: Arabic
Director: Naji Abu Nowar
Starring: Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen, Hassan Mutlag Al-Maraiyeh
What's it about?
In the Ottoman province of Hijaz during World War I, a young Bedouin boy experiences a greatly hastened growing up as he embarks on a perilous desert journey to guide a British officer to his secret destination through the spectacular desert of Wadi Rum. Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2016 Academy Awards, Theeb is a ‘Bedouin western’ adventure film and a brutal coming-of-age story.
The Fireflies Are Gone
M
Canada, 2018
Genre: Drama
Language: French
Director: Sébastien Pilote
Starring: François Papineau, Pierre-Luc Brillant, Marie-France Marcotte
What's it about?
Summer is near and classes are coming to an end in a former industrial town on the end of a large bay. Léo, a young and disaffected girl, meets Steve, a reclusive and aimless guitarist. Léo lives with her mother and stepfather Paul, a populist radio show host who forced her father into exile up north. Sylvain, Léo’s father, is a dethroned union leader whom she greatly misses. A stranger in her own world, frustrated and angry, it is through her budding relationship with Steve, set to the rhythm of their guitar lessons and her new summer job, that she'll be able to find some kind of comfort and ultimately take flight. A colourful and funny coming-of-age story about trying to escape from your so-called mundane life.
Ava
MA15+
France, 2017
Genre: Drama
Language: French
Director: Léa Mysius
Starring: Noée Abita, Laure Calamy, Juan Cano
What's it about?
Ava, 13, is spending the summer on the Atlantic coast when she learns that she will lose her sight sooner than expected. Her mother decides to act as if everything were normal and spend their best summer together ever. Ava confronts the problem in her own way. She steals a big black dog that belongs to a young man on the run and what starts out as an act of rebellion leads to a series of adventures she would never have dared to do before her prognosis. This is an adroit meditation on politics, sensuality and the ‘joie de vivre’ of youth; an unconventional chronicle of a young girl’s coming of age.
Sid and Aya
M
Philippines, 2018
Genre: Drama
Language: Tagalog
Director: Irene Villamor
Starring: Dingdong Dantes, Anne Curtis
What's it about?
The worlds of Sid and Aya couldn’t be any more different. Sid is a tough, no-nonsense, insomniac stockbroker, who’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants. Meanwhile, Aya works as a barista, laundry shop attendant and even an amusement park performer. Their worlds collide when the two meet at a café where Aya works and have an instant connection. Sid hires Aya just for her to talk to him while he struggles with his insomnia. From a complicated set-up develops an even more complicated affair that spans time and distance.
Volcano
M
France, 2015
Genre: Drama
Language: Spanish
Director: Jayro Bustamante
Starring: María Mercedes Coroy, María Telon, Manuel Antún
What's it about?
This richly atmospheric drama centres on the choices facing María, a 17-year-old Kaqchikel Maya who works with her parents on a coffee plantation in the shadow of the eponymous volcano. She is set to be married to the farm’s foreman, a loveless match that will at least protect the livelihood of her parents. But María is secretly working on other plans that will take her away from traditional life – and towards a startling contradiction of the natural order as she understands it.
Consequences
MA15+
Austria, 2018
Genre: Drama
Language: Slovene
Director: Darko Stante
Starring: Gasper Markun, Matej Zemljic, Timon Sturbej
What's it about?
Eighteen-year-old Andrej is sent to a youth detention centre due to problematic behaviour. There, he meets Zeljko, the informal leader of the detainees. Upon discovering Andrej’s secret, Zeljko soon begins to take advantage of him; Andrej’s sense of responsibility and moral integrity are put to a trial. Ultimately, he must choose between Zeljko and his reckless lifestyle, and staying true to himself.
Warm Bodies
M
USA, 2012
Genre: Drama, Horror, Romance
Language: English
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich
What's it about?
Remember when it was all about vampire romances? Well, then came the zombie romances. When a highly unusual zombie rescues a girl from imminent death at the hands of his cohorts, their unlikely romance sets in motion a chain of events that will transform him, his fellow dead, and maybe even the whole lifeless world. A funny twist on the Romeo & Juliet romance that shows the power of human connection.
IF YOU ARE AFTER MORE COMING-OF-AGE STORIES, DON'T MISS DIRECTOR LUCA GUADAGNINO'S FIRST FORAY INTO TV WITH WE ARE WHO WE ARE, NOW STREAMING AT .
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