Identity formation and coming of age are themes often depicted in film because they are so pervasive in real life. French director Céline Sciamma (Water Lillies) delves into these themes with grace and compassion in Tomboy, playing Thursday through Jan. 29 at the Bill Cosford Cinema as part of the Kenneth Lattman Lecture Series.

Tomboy is a charming tale of childhood memories and the relationships between children and children, children and parents, and one’s own heart and body.

To the neighborhood, Mikael is the new kid in town, but the new kid has a secret: Mikael is really Laure, a 10-year-old girl who is mistaken for a boy because of her short haircut and tomboy attitude. Laure goes with the ruse and passes herself off as a boy among her friends, but things get complicated when her friend – a girl named Lisa – becomes smitten with Mikael. Finding resourceful ways to hide her true self, Laure tries to adopt her new identity in hopes that her secret is never revealed.

 “Tomboy has more depth and heart than perhaps any film in the last several years,” writes Examiner.com.

The film was the winner of the Best Feature Award at the 2011 Philadelphia QFest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2011 San Francisco Frameline Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

The Cosford’s screening of Tomboy on Thursday, Jan. 26, features an audience discussion after the film with UM professor Steve Butterman, the director of the Women and Gender Studies Program in the College of Arts & Sciences, and associate professor Gema Pèrez-Sànchez, who will speak about transgender theory.

Tomboy also screens without discussion on Friday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 28 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 29 at 5:30 p.m. The film is presented in French with English subtitles.

Admission is $7 for seniors, University of Miami alumni, faculty, non-UM students and staff. General admission is $9. Free for UM students. To purchase tickets online or for more information, visit www.cosfordcinema.com or call 305-283-6748. The Cosford Cinema is located on the second floor of the Memorial Building on the University of Miami Coral Gables campus, across from Doctor’s Hospital.

- Brooke LeMaire

**Watch a preview for the film here: