By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Lucia Small
Country: united_states
Year: 2022
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12662910/reference/
Chris says: “By far not the first film about high school debate programs, Lucia Small’s documentary is surely the only one to focus primarily on female debaters. Shot over five years and using Newton South High School as its primary base (where the female debaters outnumber male ones), GIRL TALK is an extensive, fast-paced overview of a teenage academic extracurricular so commonplace that it’s easily taken for granted. While the film tracks a half-dozen or so girls as they move up the ranks from Novice to Varsity, Small is more interested in almost a mosaic approach to her topic rather than a simple line drawing.
“The film’s participants encompass a variety of personalities and ethnicities but the common thread that comes up again and again are the unique challenges a female debater faces, often related to societal and gender expectations regarding tone of voice, posture and assertiveness. Then, there’s the social aspect of it all, how friendships and other bonds are formed, how these girls both assimilate into what can be an established sport with rigid procedures and norms and occasionally challenge it, pushing for the art of debate to evolve and become more inclusive. If Newton, a wealthy Boston suburb, can come off as perhaps an atypical public school experience to some viewers, it also shows what a high school debate team can do for a teen’s growth and development when the resources and opportunities are there. When BOYS STATE, a film about a teenage male leadership conference came out about two years ago, I wondered if someone would ever make its female equivalent; with this film, Small nearly has. 4 cats
“(Premiered at IFF Boston 2022; awaiting distribution)”
Julie says: “While we have seen this formula before, there is nothing I can find wrong with this film.
“Interesting insider look into the world of debate in general as well as regarding female discrimination and hope that the future will be brighter in that respect. In addition we get to see the somewhat privileged world of kids in Newton (and I assume elsewhere within debate) who admit they are lucky as attending debating tournaments can get costly.
“Sadly the last film we will see from Lucia Small.
“I liked what Ty Burr wrote: ‘GIRL TALK is rare for Small in that it’s less self-reflexive about the act of filmmaking and more focused on young women fighting against the current of an activity and a society weighted heavily in favor of young men, defining and toughening themselves as they go. Circumspect about the past and highly uncertain about the present, Lucia found in her five final subjects an embattled hope for the future. I’d like to think the serenity I sensed in our last brief meeting may have had something to do with that. By May, GIRL TALK was part of the IFFBoston festival slate and had already been scheduled for WGBH. The edit was locked, the work was done. The work was good. It was time to rest.'”