GIRLS' STORIES
A Review by David Jackson
Sometimes a film will affect you in a way you weren't expecting. Sometimes a film will bridge the gaps of age, gender and geography and give you insight into, and empathy for, a world previously inaccessible to you. GIRLS STORIES, a Polish documentary directed by Aga Borzym, has this effect.
This documentary focuses on two girls, Jagoda and Zuzia, as they enter their teenage years. It follows them as they navigate this transitional point in their lives from childhood to teenager and from primary to secondary school and, unlike other documentaries that look at this point in a person's life and development, this film doesn't try to be a dispassionate observer. It gives Jagoda and Zuzia authorship over their own stories.
Their narration and their monologues to camera are the driving force behind this story. There is no silly squeamishness or self-censorship in the way they talk about their place in society, their rights or getting their first period. There are no big dramatic moments but these two girls' humour and charm are more than enough to entertain for the 60 min runtime of the film.
Filmed before the 2023 elections in Poland, at a time when women's rights were under threat from the right wing PiS party, these young women epitomise a new generation and an optimism for the future that has since found a voice in a new government in Poland, but still finds opposition in some parts of Polish society. Beyond the specifics of Jagoda and Zuzia’s situation, at the film's heart is a far more universal insight into what it is like being a young girl growing up in the West today, dealing with the pressures of puberty while also being deeply aware of broader societal pressures on women and young girls.
While the director Aga Borzym lets the girls take the lead and express themselves, she does add her own flair to the film. It is interspersed with brief, abstract, claymation that breaks up the more traditional documentary sections. These short interludes, while taking you away from Jagoda and Zuzia, help cement the tone of the piece. They are full of colour and whimsy and early on in the film they give you permission to relax and laugh.
This film gives an insight into what it is like to be a young girl going into her teenage years, and while it undoubtedly can’t encapsulate the totality of that experience, it did offer me a glimpse into the younger lives of those close to me, and for that, I am very grateful. It is an experience I'm looking forward to sharing with them when the film screens at this year's Cambridge Film Festival.