Sunday:
South Sudan

Sunday lives in Isoke, on the border with Uganda. She lives with her siblings while her mother is in Juba to cure her looming blindness. Her father never came back from the war. She helps her older sisters in the family cores and goes to school not far from home. She dreams of becoming a doctor to help others.

Mariana:
Romania

Mariana lives in Jina. She is learning family crafts at the farm and goes with her mother to the countryside where she helps look after the cows. This is one of the few moments when she can enjoy her parents who work very hard and have to stay away for days to look after the farm.

Noura:
Palestine

Noura, lives in the Sawahre Bedouin Community, outside Jerusalem. Despite the town being visible in the distance, she cannot visit it and lives isolated with her clan. The construction of a big Israeli settlement threatens to wipe out her community.

Painting

While searching for a possible English-speaking Voice Over for the documentary we came across Sarah, a young and talented artist, and we asked her to paint the girls, so that we could have them at least once together.

Filming in Palestine

One Girl wants to show a true picture of girls’ life therefore the girls have been selected with the following criteria:

they are 12/13 years old - a transitional stage between childhood and adulthood -, they are daughters of farmers or shepherds - universal jobs that we can find in any latitude - and they live in a rural village in the same time zone

REVIEW

The cinematography is quite wonderful. In South Sudan, we see the lush countryside, which contrasts with the lack of basic services such as electricity and running water. The aerial views of rural Finnish farmhouses and the rugged mountain terrain of Palestine are quite breathtaking. The background music reflects the local culture of the four countries.

Watch Kids

Filming in Finland

Each moment millions of people are living their lives in completely different ways. In the Western world, the right to study, to get a job, to get married to the person we love, is considered ‘normal’; while these things are happening everywhere in the world they are felt as completely different experiences.

REVIEW

A brilliantly simple idea that must have invited some complex logistics […] While the obvious economic differences are already striking, Sunday’s curriculum includes lessons on how to spot land mines, while Noura treks across hard, barren ground with a clear view on the horizon of a Jerusalem she’s not allowed to visit. At one point, she declares: “Life is beautiful here,” providing one of the most bracing jolts of human joy and resilience you’ll receive this year.

Adrian Mack on April 3rd, 2019

Filming in
South Sudan

The documentary explores the challenges teenage girls have to face: despite last years’ progress, inequality is still a big issue. We want to tell their stories through an ordinary day.

Crew Schedule

We have travelled with a small crew for cost optimization and to avoid as much as possible any interference with the community in which the shooting was taking place. We filmed in a fly-on-the-wall style to give the opportunity to experience the atmosphere and the ongoing events of the day.

Filming in Romania

As the clock ticks through the day, the characters’ stories unfold, alternating narrative "blocks", focusing on synchronicity and associations to compare the different stories. The juxtaposition of these parallel lives will enable the film’s themes to emerge: relationship with family, teachers and friends, education systems, the challenges of growing up, aspirations and dreams.