Frankie15 (2016)

Directed by: Livia Perneel | 18 minutes | short film, drama, comedy | Actors: Melody Van Gompel, Amber Janssens, Fabrice Milioni, Mountassir Khammal, Yoann Zimmer

Oh, that puberty, what a source of inspiration it remains. In ‘Frankie15’, aspiring film director Livia Perneel focuses on the fifteen to almost sixteen-year-old Frankie, who lives in Brussels with her father. What does she want for her birthday? Only she knows that herself, but from the conversations she has with her best friend Louise we can tell which direction it is going. “It’s priceless,” she says to her father, who watches her with a look familiar to all parents at the last dinner-that-she-is-fifteen. “How big she is growing, and how fast it goes.” He doesn’t say it, but you hear the words.

‘Frankie15’ is not only recognizable for parents, the teenagers in us are also addressed. Sneaky glances at the opposite sex, confidential, giggling “first time” conversations, girlfriend code – puns only BFFs understand – it’s all there. Livia Perneel paid a lot of attention to the casting process of her mostly unknown players and it certainly pays off. The young Melody Van Gompel comes across as natural and her chemistry with her film best friend Amber Janssens is unquestionable.

This short film makes you curious about the next work of this promising filmmaker.