International Film Festival of Ottawa

Little Ballerinas (with Healing Bells)

Expired March 22, 2021 7:00 AM
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Little Ballerinas (Feature Film): A documentary about three girls ages 6 to 11 who grow up in a world of intense competition to become professional dancers, but are friends and try to support each other.


Healing Bells (Short Film): This film is inspired by true events. Through an emotional approach, we discover resiliency through dance.


About the Pairing:

As a companion to Little Ballerinas which focuses on the stricter side of the discipline of dance, Sokinaa' Passkaan Aassisstoi (Healing Bells) reminds us of the power of movement to heal, rejuvenate, and restore from the inside out.


- Keltie Duncan

A charming and inspiring documentary from first-time film director Anne-Claire Dolivet. Little Ballerinas follows several remarkable young dancers aged 6 to 11 navigating their way through a unique childhood dedicated to ballet. Considered by many to be the most physically and mentally demanding of activities, ballet is not for the faint-hearted. These girls are fierce. They work tirelessly to master the dance with the guidance of their kind but firm teacher.


Dolivet manages to capture the day to day life of the girls, revealing their personalities and interactions with each other. Watching them in action is equally astounding as watching them persevere through the hard work, through injuries and through the joy and hardships of being a kid. Little Ballerinas was recently voted best documentary by The European Children’s Film Association (ECFA) and by the Children’s Jury at the Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People.


- Kelly Neall

  • Year
    2020
  • Runtime
    90 minutes
  • Language
    French (English subtitles)
  • Country
    France
  • Director
    Anne-Claire Dolivet
  • Screenwriter
    Anne-Claire Dolivet, Mathias Théry
  • Producer
    Marie VAN GLABEKE & Stéphane BASSET and Sébastien DEURDILLY
  • Cinematographer
    Jérôme OLIVIER
  • Editor
    Karen BENAINOUS
  • Music
    Malik Djoudi, Gwendal Giguelay