Company: Petunia Productions
Country: Usa/Qatar
Section: DOCUMENTARY – TEAM SPORT
Discipline: Rythmic Gymnastics
Director: Danielle Beverly
Editing: Mary Kerr
Photo: Danielle Beverly
Soutrack: Suad Bushnaq
Producer: Danielle Beverly and Jawaher AlMoawda
Synopsis:
What’s it like to grow up as a girl in Qatar, where modernity and tradition co-exist? For the girls of Qatar Stars, a gender self-segregating rhythmic gymnastics school provides friendship, creativity, and a complicated physical freedom. A four-year coming of age story set inside the school, in the years leading up to the 2022 FIFA men’s World Cup. Girls from Qatar, Lebanon, Ukraine, Egypt and UK grow up onscreen, maturing from 9-year-olds to sensitive, caring, and reflective teens. When one of their teammates is diagnosed with a rare cancer, the girls rally to support her, forming an unbreakable bond of sisterhood in the face of adversity. Meanwhile, exacting coach Tatiana undergoes her own unexpected professional and personal transformation that challenges her sense of strength and identity.