White Girl (2008)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | White girl |
| Original title | White girl |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2008 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Hettie MacDonald |
| script | Abi Morgan |
| production | Andrew Woodhead |
| music | Nina Humphreys |
| camera | Wojciech Szepel |
| cut | Úna Ní Dhonghaíle |
| occupation | |
| |
White Girl is a BBC film on the BBC series White Season about the white working class in Great Britain and portrays, from the perspective of 11-year-old Leah, a white family who moves from Leeds to an area of Bradford inhabited by immigrants of South Asian origin.
action
The mentally unstable and alcoholic Debbie, mother of three children from different fathers, hastily leaves her violent husband, the petty criminal Stevie, and moves to live with her mother in Bradford. She lives in an immigrant district of the northern English industrial city. Leah initially reacts confused when she is confronted with a culture that is foreign to her. Little by little she realizes that the life of her neighbors and schoolmates is much less chaotic than that of her mother, who gets by with cleaning jobs. Gradually she learns that Islam gives her stability and calm, which is in stark contrast to the domestic chaos. She befriends her neighbor Yasmin and visits the nearby mosque with her. The fact that she suddenly prays several times a day and wears a headscarf offends her family. When her mother gets along with Stevie again and he moves into the apartment, Leah is faced with the decision of whether or not to adapt to her family's life again. Given the choice of taking off the headscarf, she refuses and moves in with Yasmin's family. From there she observes the life of Debbie and her siblings, which is becoming alien to her. Only when Debbie realizes that her husband is now also abusing their youngest son Adam as a drug courier does she throw him out of the apartment and Leah returns to her family.
Awards
The film was in the category 2009 Best Single Drama of the British Academy Television Awards honored.
Reviews
The Independent wrote:
- "Although White Girl tells the story of a single fictional family, he also addresses other social issues: race, religion and what that means in 21st century Britain."
- Although White Girl tells the story of a single fictional family, it touches upon several broader social issues - of race, of religion, of what it means to belong in 21st-century Britain.
TV Spielfilm praised the film as a “truly touching search for identity”.
further reading
- Peter Morey, Amina Yaqin: Framing Muslim women . Stereotyping and Representation after 9/11 . London: Harvard University, 2011