Best known for co-directing The Secrets of Kells (2009) with Tomm Moore and for her work as the artistic director on his Song of the Sea (2014), Nora Twomey embarked on her first solo project by adapting Deborah Ellis' bestselling novel about eleven-year-old Parvana, born into the oppression and misogyny of a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. When her father is wrongfully arrested, the creative, independent Parvana masquerades as a boy to take on the title role and set out on a mission to reunite her family. Delivering vital history and life lessons through beautifully lush animation—a mix of hand-painting with digital “cut-out” techniques—the film optimistically depicts Parvana overcoming the darkest of circumstances through compassion, family, friendship and imagination, without diminishing the gravity of the circumstances. Twomey’s tale alternates between fantasy and reality, allowing the characters and the audience to experience the complex power of storytelling.

Age recommendation: 13+