Sweetheart (15)

A festival gem upon its initial release in 2021 (Glasgow Film Festival Audience Award winner, BFI Flare), Sweetheart is a stunning directorial debut by British writer/director Marley Morrison. The film follows AJ, a teenager dragged along to a family summer holiday at a Dorset coast caravan park with her mum and sisters. Full of teenaged angst, AJ huffs to her family about her longing to escape with her gap year plans consisting of knitting jumpers for elephants in Indonesia. However, the holiday is not a total loss as AJ meets and takes a fancy to Isla, a cute and sociable lifeguard working at the caravan park for the summer. The two develop a tender summer romance to the beats of an indie-pop soundtrack featuring songs by Cigarettes After Sex and Porridge Radio. This screening is part of our season Young Hearts Run Free, a collection of films celebrating queer youth and love which runs throughout November. Supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, and funded by Screen Scotland and National Lottery funding from the BFI.