Fifteen-year-old Rocks has everything a teenage girl needs: big dreams about the future, loyal and funny friends and a little brother who adores her. But the happy-go-lucky days abruptly end when their mother leaves them. Rocks becomes her brother’s parent and, with help from her friends, eludes social workers and hides all over London. Shown at the festivals in Toronto, Rotterdam and San Sebastián, Rocks gives a colorful portrait of a motley bunch of girls growing up in a big city who overcome their different social backgrounds, demonstrating that families come in many forms. For the making of the film, director Sarah Gavron (Suffragette) gathered around herself a creative crew of women, including cinematographer Hélène Louvart (Happy as Lazzaro). The actresses also contributed substantially to the script’s authenticity.
Sarah Gavron (1970) debuted as a director with Brick Lane (2007), earning her a BAFTA nomination. She won the Margaret Mead Award for her documentary The Village at the End of the World (2013). Her second feature, Suffragette (2015), starred Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep and Brendan Gleeson, winner of Best Supporting Actor at the BIFA. She has also directed episodes of Transparent for Amazon Studios.