Starring Zoé Héran, Malonn Lévana, Sophie Cattani and Mathieu Demy
Written and directed by Céline Sciamma
France 2011
82 mins
One of the most exciting and distinctive talents working in French cinema is Céline Sciamma. Her feature output includes 'Water Lilies', 'Girlhood' (screened by the AFC a few years back) and most recently "Portrait of a Lady on Fire'. Her films combine arresting visuals, powerful emotion and great use of music to tell their stories - often of the disenfranchised and marginal;ised in France today.
'Tomboy' tells the story of 10-year-old Laure who moves to a new neighbourhood and in an effort to fit in with a new crowd adopts the identity of a boy. Her strategy works but very soon complications arise...
The young actors in this movie are astonishingly natural - slipping into their roles both new and traditional with ease. The shades of meaning in the story make it a universal as well as a particular account of growing up and the confusion and joy of that time in our lives.
Describing the ambiguity which lies at the heart of her film, Sciamma said she was drawn to the subject of childhood because 'it’s a time when everybody pretends to be someone else for an afternoon, everyone makes up stories about themselves.' She was also clear that her film was built on several layers of meaning, and shouldn’t be pigeonholed. 'I made it so that a transsexual person can say ‘that was my childhood' Sciamma explained, 'and a heterosexual woman can also say it'.
