20,000 SPECIES OF BEES – ★★★

A Spanish film about an eight year old who is realising that she is a girl born in a boy’s body. Over a holiday with family, both her and her family come to terms with it, at different paces and with different levels of acceptance. An excellent performance by the young actor who played Lucia/Aitor. I got the intent of this film, and applaud it, but I felt that there could have been a little more story in the 125 minute run time.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY – ★★

Indonesian drama about a young servant to an army general who has returned to a village to run for office. I felt the character development of the servant was patchy, and the story uninspired. Didn’t didn’t engage me.

SCRAPPER – ★★★☆

A watchable enough film about a scrappy 12 year old girl whose mother (and sole parent) has passed away. She is attempting to live between the cracks of the system by herself, inventing a fake uncle, until her absent father shows up. It’s a kitchen-sink drama with a lot of comedy injected, so not a very heavy watch – probably worth recommending to young adults who enjoyed Home Alone, where the child character is outsmarting the adults around them (but without the Hollywood story or slapstick/violent acts). The highlight for me was that it was the first time one of my children were able to attend MIFF with me, so it was a joyful moment to be able to share what I love about MIFF (and point out the incredible ceiling of the Capitol Theatre.