Tomboy (2011)

Director:

Céline Sciamma

Writer:

Céline Sciamma (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 April 2011 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

There's a new kid in town.

Plot:

A 10-year-old girl, settling into her new neighborhood outside Paris, is mistaken for a boy and has to live up to this new identity since it's too late for the mistake to be clarified.

Plot Keywords:

10 Year Old | Girl | Gender | Children | Sister Sister Relationship

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Zoé Héran	...	Laure / Michaël
Malonn Lévana	...	Jeanne
Jeanne Disson	...	Lisa
Sophie Cattani	...	Mother
Mathieu Demy	...	Father
Yohan Vero	...	Vince
Noah Vero	...	Noah
Cheyenne Lainé	...	Cheyenne
Rayan Boubekri	...	Rayan
Christel Baras	...	La mère de Lisa
Valérie Roucher	...	La mère de Rayan

Directed by
Céline Sciamma

Writing credits
Céline Sciamma		(screenplay)

Produced by
Bénédicte Couvreur	....	producer

Original Music by
Jean-Baptiste de Laubier		(as Para One)

Cinematography by
Crystel Fournier

Film Editing by
Julien Lacheray

Casting by
Christel Baras

Production Design by
Thomas Grézaud

Makeup Department
Marie Luiset	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Gaëtane Josse	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Valérie Roucher	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Jérôme Lorichon	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Ivan Gariel	....	foley mixer
Olivier Guillaume	....	sound assistant: auditorium
Benjamin Laurent	....	sound
Vincent Milner	....	foley artist
François Méreu	....	dialogue editor
Sébastien Savine	....	sound editor
Daniel Sobrino	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Simon Descamps	....	title

Camera and Electrical Department
Pierre Assenat	....	assistant camera
Mathieu Cassan	....	stagiaire image
Jean-Pierre Garbin	....	additional electrician
Aurélien Gerbault	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Aline Conan	....	colorist

Other crew
Melody Benistant	....	press attache
François Guerrar	....	press attache (as Francois Hassan Guerrar)

Thanks
Elisabeth Depardieu	....	thanks
Laurent Sciamma	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Hold Up Films
• arte France Cinéma (co-production)
• Lilies Films (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Arte France (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (support)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (in partnership with)
• Arte / Cofinova 6 (in association with)
• Films Distribution (in association with)

Distributors

• Alamode Film (2011) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Cinéart (2011) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Cinéart (2011) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Feelgood Entertainment (2011) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Film Distribution (2011) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Peccadillo Pictures (2011) (UK) (theatrical)
• Pyramide Distribution (2011) (France) (theatrical)
• Rocket Releasing (2011) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Teodora Film (2011) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Agora Films (2011) (Switzerland) (all media)
• Demiurg (2011) (Slovenia) (all media)
• Distribuidora de Películas S.A. (2011) (Spain) (all media)
• Film1 (2012) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Mongrel Media (2011) (Canada) (all media)
• Rialto Distribution (2011) (Australia) (all media)
• Thim Film (2011) (Austria) (all media)
• Twin Pics (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Coficiné  banking services
• D.C. Audiovisuel  sound transfer (as DCA)
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix

Also Known As:

"Agorokoritso" - Greece (imdb display title)
"Pobalinka" - Slovenia (imdb display title)
"Tomboy" - Italy (imdb display title)
"Tomboy" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Tomboy" - Sweden (imdb display title)

Runtime:

Germany:84 min | France:82 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Belgium:Tous | France:U | Netherlands:AL | UK:U | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Seine-et-Marne, France

Company:

Hold Up Films

Trivia:

Script written from April 2010. The main actress was found on the first day of casting. The film was shot in twenty days in August 2010 with a crew of fourteen.

Soundtrack:

Always

Tomboys don't cry.

It feels like a time gone by of dreamy focused, eternally youthful, summer days: running around in woods, water fights, wrestling, sitting out of football matches, Play-Doh spaghetti, and feeling too scared to stand next to the other boys to pee.

With an approach that is far more Boys Don't Cry than it is Mrs Doubtfire, and by hitting upon gender identity during pre-puberty, a lengthy and distancing make-up job can be avoided.

And so without a rubber nose nor silicone jaw in sight, little Zoé Héran is left stripped bare, literally, to "play boy", with performance alone. And her performance as Laure / Mikael is nothing short of genius.

Masculinity is a hard act to pull off, but pre-pubescent masculinity is such a fine and narrow ledge between forced and feminine that it's incredible that it feels so effortless for a ten year old actress. Compare this to Glenn Close and Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs, and they feel even more like Little Britain characters than they ever did tearing along the beach screaming "I'm a lady…" And they both got Oscar nominations…?

Zoe is surrounded by a cast of unbelievably naturalistic fellow children; her six-year old sister Jeanna, and the relationship they share is so intimate and convincing that every now and then I simply couldn't imagine there being a camera and film crew right up in their playful, cute as a button, faces.

Her burgeoning relationship with new neighbor Lisa, is as delightful as it is frightful, as you know that at some point there has to be a denouncement that Mikael is not all he seems – and for those of you that have experienced it, you thought that finding out your boyfriend was gay was tough?

Maybe, just maybe, it's because they're talking French that the performances and dialogue feel flawless – murmur in Parisian tones underneath sparse subtitles and I'm sold – or maybe it's because elsewhere they just don't grow 'em like they grow 'em in France.

The script, story, direction and cinematography are enviable, and throughout you hold a little silent prayer in your heart that it's not going to end up, like Brandon Teena, in a ditch.