Storyline
A young African boy with a haunting back story starts school in Ireland, and finds out quickly exactly what it means to be the new kid. Winner of Best Narrative Short at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and nominated for an Oscar.
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CinemaSerf
March 21, 2024
7 / 10
When "Joseph" (Ulutunji Ebun-Cole) arrives at his new Irish junior school, he is immediately reminded of his school at home (somewhere in Africa) and of the trauma that he experienced there that rather dwarves the petty bullying that he is soon experiencing from two of his classmates. Luckily, the young "Hazel" (Sinead Maguire) takes a bit of a shine to their new boy and her behaviour might just offer a conduit for all to move past their initial hostilities and share a laugh. Aside from anything else, it makes you remember that being a primary school teacher is no walk in the park, but mostly it's a reminder that it's not always the easiest path to make friends - picking fights is often simpler. The kids do quite well here, with a minimum of dialogue, and I did quite enjoy the simplicity of the story.
