Keswick Film Club - My Skinny Sister

Synopsis

The title gives much away about this film; we are looking at a girl with eating problems, but, rather than see it from her viewpoint, or even from an adult's point of view, we are watching it all from her sister's angle. What it doesn't tell us is that the sister is younger - 12 in this case - and that she sees her sister as a role model.

Katja is an adolescent schoolgirl, but becoming a bit of a star as a figure skater. In trying to increase her fitness and her success, she is secretly suffering from anorexia and bulimia. Alongside her, sister Stella is suffering from prepubescent anxieties about her own body and sees Katja as perfect.

First time director Sanna Lenken was partly inspired by her own battles with anorexia but, by placing Stella as the central character, she allows the film to be much more about her young jealousies and the relationship problems caused by Katja's eating difficulties, making the film much more lightweight (no pun intended!) and fun to watch.

Katja is played by former child pop star Amy Deasismont, but it is new discovery Rebecka Josephson - discovered only one month before shooting began - who steals the show as Stella.

"The film is mostly shot at Stella's eye level as she cowers perpetually in the shadow of scary adults and beanstalk teenagers. The restless, jittery handheld camera work by Moritz Schultheiss absolutely adores Josephson's thick copper-colored tresses and comically stern features. Blessed with a freckled moon face that registers every tiny tremor of anguish and mischief, she is both convincingly awkward and winningly natural, even when she breaks into fluent English to converse with non-Swedish characters. A child star is born in Lenken's warmhearted dramatic treatment of an evergreen subject" - Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter