Film
Girl
- Director
- Lukas Dhont
- Certificate
- 15
- Running Time
- 106 mins
Like so many things trans related, Belgian director Lukas Dhont‘s award-winning feature debut has provoked a Twitterstorm of ranting and foaming. Here are the facts. Inspired by the life of Belgian transgender woman Nora Monsecour, Girl tells the story of 15-year-old Lara, who undergoes hormone replacement therapy in preparation for sex reassignment surgery, with the full support of her family. Her ambition is to become a ballerina, but she experiences transphobic abuse and becomes frustrated at the slow pace of her transition.
The film won the Queer Palm and Caméra d’Or award for first feature at Cannes, was selected as Belgium’s official entry for the Oscars, and its young star, Victor Polster, was nominated for a Golden Globe. The backlash came from those who objected to the casting of a ‘cisgender’ actor, the film’s extensive full-frontal nudity and its disturbing climactic scene of self-harm. One activist described it as “the most dangerous movie about a trans character in years” and “outrageously irresponsible filmmaking”. It’s only fair to add that other trans people rallied to Girl‘s defence on grounds of authenticity, including the real Nora Monsecour, who has defended both the casting and the contentious self-mutilation. “I wanted this scene to be in the film,” she told one interviewer.
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
