About a Girl (film)
Encyclopedia
About a Girl is a nine-minute short film directed by Brian Percival
. In 2001 it won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film
. It also won an award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival
for Best British Short, the TCM
Classic Shorts Award prize at the London Film Festival
, and the Jury Prize at the Raindance Film Festival
. The script was written by Julie Rutterford
and the film was produced by Janey de Nordwall. The leading role was played by Ashley Thewlis.
" and doing the dance routine. It cuts abruptly to a close-up of the girl talking in a strong Mancunian accent
to the camera: "If Jesus were alive today — right, he'd probably be a singer." She is walking against a backdrop of Manchester's industrial landscape, talking non-stop, mixing wry statements about stardom and singers with random quotes from her parents and descriptions of her life: her relationship with her dad, her frustrations with her mum, her desire to become a famous singer, the band she has formed with her friends. Things any 13-year-old might talk about. Her monologue is interrupted and intercut with different scenes of her with her family and her dad; her in a perfume department, sitting on a bench singing "Stronger" again, and on the back of a bus with her girlfriends singing "Oops!... I Did It Again
" by Britney Spears and doing the routine.
As she goes on walking alongside a canal, the girl's stories become more and more underlain by an uncomfortable feeling that the gravity of her experiences does not match her flippant retelling of her everyday life: her descriptions of her pop idols and her favourite ice cream are mixed with hints about family troubles, poverty and domestic violence.
The 'underside' to her light-hearted storytelling is revealed in a shocking scene when, stating that she has become "good at hiding things", she throws the plastic bag she has been carrying into the canal.
Brian Percival
Brian Percival is a British film director, working mainly in television.He has directed Pleasureland, North & South, ShakespeaRe-Told , The Ruby in the Smoke and The Old Curiosity Shop....
. In 2001 it won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film
BAFTA Award for Best Short Film
This page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film for each year. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts , is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, children's film and television, and interactive media...
. It also won an award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival...
for Best British Short, the TCM
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
Classic Shorts Award prize at the London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
, and the Jury Prize at the Raindance Film Festival
Raindance Film Festival
Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates from various cities including: London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin and Brussels...
. The script was written by Julie Rutterford
Julie Rutterford
Julie Rutterford is a British film and television screenwriter. She shared a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film with producer Janey de Nordwall and director Brian Percival in 2001 for their film About a Girl...
and the film was produced by Janey de Nordwall. The leading role was played by Ashley Thewlis.
Plot
About a Girl opens with a striking shot of a silhouette — against a skyline of clouds above a field — of a girl singing the Britney Spears song "StrongerStronger (Britney Spears song)
"Stronger" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, taken from her second studio album Oops!... I Did It Again . It was released on November 13, 2000, by Jive Records as the third single of the album. After meeting up with producers Max Martin and Rami in Sweden, the singer recorded...
" and doing the dance routine. It cuts abruptly to a close-up of the girl talking in a strong Mancunian accent
Manchester dialect
Mancunian is a dialect, and the name given to the people of Manchester, England, and some of the surrounding areas within Greater Manchester, for example Salford....
to the camera: "If Jesus were alive today — right, he'd probably be a singer." She is walking against a backdrop of Manchester's industrial landscape, talking non-stop, mixing wry statements about stardom and singers with random quotes from her parents and descriptions of her life: her relationship with her dad, her frustrations with her mum, her desire to become a famous singer, the band she has formed with her friends. Things any 13-year-old might talk about. Her monologue is interrupted and intercut with different scenes of her with her family and her dad; her in a perfume department, sitting on a bench singing "Stronger" again, and on the back of a bus with her girlfriends singing "Oops!... I Did It Again
Oops!... I Did It Again (song)
"Oops!... I Did It Again" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. The song was written and produced by Max Martin and Rami for Spears' second studio album, Oops!... I Did It Again . It was released on March 27, 2000 by Jive Records, as the first single from the album. "Oops!.....
" by Britney Spears and doing the routine.
As she goes on walking alongside a canal, the girl's stories become more and more underlain by an uncomfortable feeling that the gravity of her experiences does not match her flippant retelling of her everyday life: her descriptions of her pop idols and her favourite ice cream are mixed with hints about family troubles, poverty and domestic violence.
The 'underside' to her light-hearted storytelling is revealed in a shocking scene when, stating that she has become "good at hiding things", she throws the plastic bag she has been carrying into the canal.
External links
- About a Girl at the BBC Film Network