Douze printemps

It's been a while since we've had a great coming-of-age movie. Between the innocence of Stand By Me and the nihilism of Breakfast Club, bildungsroman comedies in the late twentieth century made us feel connected, less isolated during our most awkward stages, cherishing our days of youth while bracing ourselves for an uncertain future. Yes, the new millennium is not short of tweenage adventures on silver screen, but there has to be a sweet spot between the apparent frivolousness of Mean Girls and the literal kick to the stomach of This is England. Something to soar our spirits as our wings start to melt due to emotional Global Warming. That's where A Dozen Summers comes into play.

The first feature directed by Canadian wonder Kenton Hall, A Dozen Summers is a feel-good film that stays real to the harsh facts of life without losing its sense of adventure. It's the story of a summer in the lives of Maisie and Daisy McCormack, pre-adolescent twins on a quest to make their own movie as they navigate their relationships with friends, family and society in general.

The story is, at all times, told from Maisie and Daisy's perspective, after they "kidnap" an off-voice narrator (Doctor Colin Baker) who was aiming to tell a children's tale as a distant observer, the same way David Attenborough talks about wild animals. These very wild animals are on the loose, and now you're going to witness their truths with a little help from dreams, metaphors, parodies and heavy, heavy editing. For once, the control is at their fingertips, and they're not afraid to use it.

The twins are no Lindsay Lohans. There's no illusion and no stereotypical twin jokes about wearing the same outfit, holding hands at all times and finishing each other's sentences. The girls, played by real-life twins Scarlett and Hero Hall, are autonomous people with diverse life interests and even different growth patterns. While Maisie has crushes and spends ages buying jeans, Daisy's most heartbreaking concern is that they're not making a horror movie instead. A ghost girl who eats all the teachers? I'd watch that, honestly. Twice.

Kenton is their father on and off-screen, but there's no whiff of favouritism either way. The same level of professionalism can be seen through the entire cast, young and less young alike. Many things can go wrong with underage/vulnerable talent, but those children set an example and show a broader range of performances than a few Academy Award nominees.

This is not just a children's story. From constant subplots and stillness, we learn that growing pains never cease. The adults go through their personal journeys, hidden from those who look up to them. When the kids leave, there is sighing, smirking, staring at unknown distances. Grown ups are left to their own devices, now with permission to stop pretending that they've got their wits together. Between classes, the teachers reflect. When the noisy students leave the shop, the attendant can't seem to cope with sudden silence. The mother, played by Sarah Warren, fights this constant loneliness through a string of peculiar romances. The father, on the other hand, only seems to find solace in the big nothing. When his children go to school, he tells the camera to go on then, keep filming the girls, not him. After all, it's their story. Right? Or is it everyone's story?

For a brave little indie family film, A Dozen Summers seems to be reaching places. It has been shown at festivals in places as distant as the US, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ukraine and Chile. For several months in 2015, it was commercially screened in theatres all over Great Britain, including a successful couple of summer weekends at the Phoenix, the finest indie cinema in the film's hometown Leicester. Several external locations were shot in the Cultural Quarter, so it's fair and necessary to see the results around here.

What are you waiting for, then? Support local, indie, transnational, immaculate storytelling for all ages. It's finger-snapping good.

This film is a real delight! It appeals to kids and adults alike, as the story explores issues and themes which we are all familiar with. It is really quite extraordinary how on the mark Kenton Hall is with his writing here, creating a film which resonates so deeply with so many different people. The girls are hilarious to watch, and indeed the whole film is, for want of a better word, FUN! From start to finish, this film is a joy to watch; it's entertaining, thought-provoking without going TOO deep and it's a real signal of intent from the independent film world that small budget films can achieve great things! A must-see, and a film I will certainly watch again, and again, and again. Bravo

Kenton Hall provides a great first feature length film. His daughters are fun in the lead rolls and there is a perfect narration from Colin Baker and there is also a nice scene with Ewan MacIntosh as a shop owner who doesn't like children.

This film explores what it is really like to have the problems of a 12 year old from their perspective without dismissing or minimalising them.

It was made on a tight budget over very little time and although that occasionally shows, this film looks like more than the averaged indie film and makes me look forward to Hall's next project.

This is a very unique film, at least the presentation, but the story was plain. More like a documentary film where it revolves around two twin sisters aged 12 and they decide to make their life as a film with a finger snapping whenever to alter the event whatever way they want. In the first two acts, it was an aimless narration. Like they are introducing us to their separated parents, friends, school and other activities. But the final act was different, now it has an agenda, it also reason for a new trouble to surface and how the tale ends from was told in the remaining.

Written, directed and starred by a father with his two daughters playing the lead roles. A small budget family film, quite beautifully made. Looks almost everybody had no experience, particularly the kids, but it does not look that bad. Don't expect something like a normal children's film, it was an experimental film and overall a decent one. It was a short film with sweet performances, so worth it if you are interesting. Other than that I won't suggest you to force yourself to watch this.

6/10

As a fan of low-budget independent films (especially British ones), and also a major Doctor Who geek, it was inevitable that I would cross paths with A Dozen Summers.

Made on a budget that might cover a Hollywood film's hotel expenses for one evening, this delight puts twin sisters (on-screen and in real life) centre stage, in a tale of two 12 year-olds coping with school and family life.

While this summary may sound a bit dull, the film is anything but that, with the writer and director Kenton Hall delivering the story in a rather unique way.

Kicking off with narrator Colin Baker and roving camera, initially following two other much younger schoolgirls, in a mock wildlife documentary fashion, the film is promptly hijacked by Maisie and Daisy McCormack, who decide that the initial project is too boring and that a movie about their lives would be far more interesting!

From that opening scene onwards, we are plunged into the world and imagination of Maisie and Daisie, as we see the problems they face at school and at home, interspersed with a series of offbeat, and often very funny, fantasy sequences, with nods to various classic and popular films along the way.

The witty script also deals with serious topics, such as bullying and parental separation, but does so in a way that the humour, charm and vibrancy of the story is always at the forefront.

The performances of the twins Scarlet and Hero are natural, believable, and often amusing, while the parents played by Kenton Hall and Sarah Warren deliver scene-stealing moments with their quirky humour.

Like all micro-budget films, because of the financial, and therefore time, restrictions, there are some technical blips, perhaps the sound recording could have been better in a few scenes, and the editing tighter, but that's a minor rock in a sea of pleasures.

For British viewers familiar with the children's shows Grange Hill and Tracy Beaker, there's common territory in A Dozen Summers, only with much more humour and a delightful whimsical style.

So overall A Dozen Summers gets a solid 8/10 for me. I look forward to seeing more from Kenton Hall in the future!