Thursday, March 12 / 8:30 pm / Ottawa Art Gallery

Program: Boa, Little Trouble Girls

Feature presentation \

Lucia, a shy 16-year-old, joins the all-girls choir at her mother’s behest. She is immediately drawn to Ana-Maria, an intimidating yet magnetic girl who dares to wear red lipstick. Lucia begins to feel like she belongs with Ana-Maria’s friend group when they bunk together for the choir’s weekend retreat at a convent. A late bloomer compared to the other girls, Lucia is just developing her sexuality, but at the most inconvenient times. Her eyes linger on Ana-Maria’s bare skin, and she joins the others in ogling the handsome, sweaty men doing restoration work. She doesn’t know what to do with these new feelings, as she never seems to get anything right with the other girls. As things become more intimate between her and Ana-Maria, it affects Lucia’s performance and harmony within the choir.

Combining intimate sound design with selective framing, it’s no wonder Urška Djukić’s feature debut won the Best Cinematography prize at Tribeca. The film feels intimate, yet uncomfortable at times, as teenagedom often does.

-Tish Black

Short film \

Boa

2025 / 25 minutes / Canada (Quebec) & France
Director: Alexandre Dostie
Language: French
Subtitles: English

When a young monk comes into contact with the bodybuilders of the Boa Gym, he reconnects to the power of his physical form, sparking a radical transformation.