Our first period. We’ve heard stories about it but when it comes, we are everything BUT ready.  Every young girl has probably felt the same way when she gets her period for the first time: the feelings of confusion, anxiety and nervousness. While thousands of girls around the world are going through this every day, it’s not something that is represented on screen often. With her latest short film, director Giulia Gandini (“Special Delivery”; “The House”) is going to change that. She’s bringing this topic to life with this colourful, youthful and powerful short film.

Giving a presentation in front of your class is always nerve-wracking. Twelve-year-old Ava (Clara Read) prepares herself both mentally and physically for her speech about her favourite fiction hero. While mentally it all goes well, psychically it does not. She’s fidgeting in her chair and feels like something’s wrong. She has her very first period right before she has to give a presentation. How will she handle this?

A film like this needs to have a strong young lead and Clara Read (“The Bind”; “What Happened to Monday”) is absolutely just that. With her emotional performance, she takes us back to that difficult moment that some of us have had many years ago that came along with mixed and confusing feelings.

Having your period for the first time is indeed an immensely relevant topic for a film as it’s without a doubt a life-changing event. For some girls, it can be scary and unexpected.  Despite the seriousness of it, director Gandini decides to tackle the topic with a bunch of wittiness, openness, innocence, and beautifulness. Especially with the delightful performance from Read and the usage of bright and light colours. Because of this, the fear of talking about menstruations can decrease. Sadly, it’s not uncommon for a girl to be refused access to toilets during menstruation and 1 in 10 girls in the UK can’t afford to buy menstrual products. We hope that this film might be the start of reducing the stigma around this topic.

We’re not the only ones who see the importance of this film, film festivals and their audiences do. My Time already won the Best Short Film Award at BUFF International Film Festival and it screened at the Oscar Qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival and Leeds Young Film Festival. The film is also part of the line-up of the Fastnet Film Festival in Ireland. You should definitely see My Time as a charming, humane and beautifully made film that hopefully will change the lives of young girls around the world.

My Time – Teaser Trailer from Giulia Gandini on Vimeo.

Liselotte Vanophem, Film and Celebrity Reporter – Just Celebrity Magazine