Free as a Bird

Twelve-year-old Ariana dances her way through life. With her long hair swirling around her, she’s a ball of energy. But there’s something almost nobody knows about Ariana: her kidneys don’t work properly. She’d rather not talk about that, because she doesn’t want pity. But she’s going to have to, because they keep getting worse. What if she’s not able to dance anymore?

She decides to make an appeal on social media. Maybe she’ll find someone out there who wants to donate a kidney. But making a video about such a heavy, personal subject turns out to be a lot more difficult than the upbeat clips she normally posts online. Luckily, she’s got the support of her ever-patient brother, who volunteers to direct. And of her dog Mickey.

The film follows Ariana’s perspective, capturing her mostly positive attitude but also the moments when things aren’t going quite so well. The camera gets so close sometimes that we can count her freckles.