Gen Art had a focus on women directors last night The short film, Daughters, was presented with the feature Tanner Hall. It was a very good pairing. They both focused on young women growing up and making difficult choices in life and love.
The star of Tanner Hall, Rooney Mara, plays Fernanda, a mature and thoughtful young girl who goes to an all girl's boarding school. She's spent so much of her life away from home she feels disconnected from her mother and considers the school her home. She has two very close friends Kate and Jo who each have extremely different personalities.
Her dynamic at school is changed when an old childhood friend enrolls in the school. Victoria us rebellious and dark, and attempts to insert herself in the group while trying to exclude Fern. Along with that is a forbidden crush on Gio, played by Tom Everett Scott.
The movie was well acted and all of the characters were very believable. I can see Rooney Mara having a very successful acting career ahead of her. The story, however, felt a little uninspired and predictable. It was a very textbook coming of age drama that had been done in many films before. It wasn't a bad film, I was entertained and never got bored, but I wasn't surprised or inspired by the story. The directors/writers were very sweet best friends and seemed to really enjoy making this film, so congrats to them.
Daughters was filmed in China and is a subtitled movie. I can't even imagine the difficulties the director went through to get this movie made. Even more so considering the content of the film. It focuses on the two child rule and the difficult decisions a family has to make in that environment. The main character is the eldest daughter who future is being decided for her because her mother is pregnant with a son. Her struggle to choose between an unwanted marriage and her little sister's life is extremely moving.
One of the best shorts this week.
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