A Colony

Winner of the Berlinale’s Crystal Bear for Best Film – Generation 14plus, A Colony is the story of a young girl on the cusp of adolescence struggling with a new school, familial conflict and finding confidence in herself.

Twelve-year-old Mylia exists on the fringes of her new high school’s social world. Intimidated by the fact that she buses in each day from a rural area, she views her more worldly classmates with trepidation and assumes her own inferiority. But two new friends draw the naïve tween closer to the precipice of teenage experience: older, more streetsmart Jacinthe, whose influence pushes Mylia past her comfort zone; and fellow outsider Jimmy, a member of the Abenaki people who helps Mylia to better understand herself and her place in the world.

Québécois filmmaker Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ debut feature, A Colony is a deeply assured example of the coming-of-age genre. Poised and graceful, with a specificity of place and character that is embodied by the tremendous lead performance from Emilie Bierre, it marks Dulude-De Celles as a confident filmmaker to pay close attention to.

“[Geneviève Dulude-De Celles] makes a near-flawless leap from her Sundance-winning short film The Cut and her feature documentary Welcome to F.L. into the world of full-length fiction. This French-language tale aimed at young audiences is a lovely start: wise but never preachy.” – Hollywood Reporter