The Little Things

When George Apirana arrives home to her state house apartment block on her fourteenth birthday looking forward to having a dinner date with her mother, she ends up getting rejected in favour of her mother’s new male companion.

Unwittingly thrown into the night with no money and no particular place to be. Tama, her six-year-old neighbour tries to muscle in on her journey only to be rejected outright and told pragmatically “that life sucks and he should get used to it”.

George travels into the city and using her street-smart instincts tries in vain to create her own fun before resigning to the fact that sometimes life really does sucks and she is forced to take heed of her own advice.

Humbled by this realisation and lonely, she invites Tama over to her empty home to eat some cake that her mother left out for her before she took off. After a proud pause, Tama reluctantly joins her – toasting her birthday with a generous bourbon and coke that she sneakily serves him.

Wise beyond his years and overwhelmingly aware of George’s sadness, Tama will do anything to cheer her up, so he presents her with a home-made tennis ball creation he has spent all evening trying to master. Stunned by his generosity and kindness George lets her guard down for a fraction of a moment and allows this gesture of pure unabashed love to touch her.

The Little Things won a special jury prize at the 2005 Berlinale Kinderfilmfest.