"Jeune" - A UCLA MFA Short Film

Logline: A young girl clad in homemade armor who believes she’s Joan of Arc reincarnate must reckon with the real source of her suffering after a fateful skirmish on the playground. Summary: A young girl named Margot begins her sacred crusade as Joan of Arc reincarnate to the behest of her weary father. She is dragged into school and forced to give up her sword and helmet only to miraculously steal her wooden sword back and attack a boy on the playground who teased her. Principal Ilsa calls her dad to pick her up and demands something change. Margot’s dad agrees. Furious, he hides her armor away in a locked closet. Still determined, Margot Macgyvers a sword out of rulers and duct tape, and declares war on her dad, only to find him in tears over a children’s book about Joan of Arc. Margot realizes that her coping mechanism for dealing with the death of her mother is doing more harm than good. You can’t shield yourself from your grief forever.