Ani

Clutching the red phone, Ani pretends to be a grown woman who’s leaving her husband. Her mother departs that very night. Next morning, Ani consoles her crying father, skipping school so as not to leave him alone. Soon she has to express her own grief as well. Poignantly close to her protagonist, Māori director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu depicts the conflicting feelings a nine-year-old girl experiences when her beloved parents separate. (Berlinale)