Telluride at Dartmouth Film: "Girl"
A transgender teen dreams of being a ballerina in this stunning debut for both director Lukas Dhont and star Victor Polster.
This extraordinarily passionate and compassionate film follows Lara (the superb Victor Polster), a young transgender teenager whose medical progress is complicated by the grueling physical challenges of training to be a ballerina. Lukas Dhont’s storytelling, with its own lyrical, balletic elegance, seeks out every nuance and conflict arising from the physical and psychic challenges Lara must endure. Just 15 at the time of filming, Polster’s breakout performance earned him Best Actor by the Cannes Un Certain Regard jury. Embodying Lara’s obsessive dedication to her dreams, Polster’s commitment serves as the fuel for the film’s heartbreaking beauty and clarity. As co-writer and director, Dhont deservedly won the Cannes Camera d’Or for Best First Feature. (Belgium, subtitled, 2018, 1h45m) Courtesy of Netflix
