Navigating girlhood can be difficult, but for 13-year-old Ava it’s about to get whole lot trickier. While lazing away her summer vacation on the Atlantic coast with her mother and baby sister, Ava learns she is rapidly going blind. Facing a world of creeping blackness, Ava urgently claims as much of her own light as she can. She rebels against her inattentive mother, steals a dog, and becomes romantically entangled with a mysterious beach rat, sending her on an unpredictable and perilous journey of self-realization.

Acclaimed short filmmaker Léa Mysius’s debut feature is a glittering, audacious coming-of-age story that reframes adolescence in urgent and intoxicating ways. Fans of Mysius’s compatriot director Catherine Breillat will recognize the sensually liberated firebrand of a lead character, who also retains a young teen’s playful mischief. Shot on gorgeous 35mm film, Ava features a fearless, sun-drenched lead performance by newcomer Noée Abita, and heralds Mysius as an uncompromising new cinematic voice.

Winner: Palm Dog Jury Prize, SADC Award Best Feature, Cannes

In competition for the New Voices New Visions Award.