It's a Girl's Life

Mary Lou loves basketball despite her mother’s claims that she’ll ‘grow muscles’ and ‘a pee pee, like a boy’ if she practices sports. In order to play, she has to convince her hyper-religious parents to sign a school permission form. Speaking to Jesus, via unorthodox means, Mary Lou tries to find a way to help her parents see the light.

From the back seat of a car an entire world of sibling rivalry escalates to epic proportions. Emotions run high, bodies bend and explode, and two sisters push their relationship to its limits.

Performing themselves, twelve girls participate in a hybrid documentary/work of theatre as they investigate the curious and unique creature commonly known as the 12-year-old girl. Hot off the heels of her dazzling appearance in the Australian coming-of-age drama, 52 Tuesdays, Tilda Cobham-Hervey’s directorial debut is an astounding accomplishment not only for the detailed attention to its subjects, but also for the inventive and playful manner in which it disrupts the documentary form.

With the unconditional support of her humble Japanese-American father, an ambitious young girl chases her lifelong dream to be an astronaut. With heaps of tenderness, and impressive animation, we are reminded that the road to achieving our biggest aspirations can be long and challenging. We are lucky to be loved along the way. One Small Step is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

When confronted by the white girls in her ballet class, nine-year-old Mahalia is made to feel like an outsider. In an effort to improve her confidence before picture day, her mother takes her to a salon to have her hair straightened for the very first time. When the other girls pressure her to join in their fun, it becomes clear that Mahalia isn’t like them.