Set in a New Zealand town during the summer of 2006, this queer coming-of-age drama vividly captures what it’s like to be a teenager trying to work out your place in the world. 

Fourteen-year-old Sid Bookman argues with her father and sister, makes clumsy attempts to hang out with the cool gang, and falls out with her best friend. She also has to navigate the predatory attentions of young men, while secretly attracted to a young woman at her school.   

Ani Palmer, in her first screen role, perfectly captures the awkwardness of adolescence and Noah Taylor is superb as her shambolic father in this poignant debut feature by director Paloma Schneideman. It is also the first produced feature from A Wave in the Ocean, a film-making course led by Jane Campion.  

‘This story of the summer holiday break in rural New Zealand pulses with a powerful sense of place and terrifically charged scenes of chaotic intimacy, its exceptional performances led by Palmer, Rain Spencer and Noah Taylor.’ – Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter 

Followed by Q&A with director Paloma Schneideman and actor Noah Taylor.