Going on 13

GOING ON 13 is a mesmerizing documentary by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and community worker Dawn Valadez. Adolescent girls from multi-ethnic families in the San Francisco Bay area have a lot on their minds these days: peer pressure, boys, and their changing bodies. Also immigrant life and divorce. We first get to know four of these girls when they’re nine. We then follow them at school and home over several years as the filmmakers record their evolving thoughts and dreams. Ariana is a brash, sporty African-American girl who gets into fights. Esmeralda, whose parents are Mexican, is overweight and usually in love. Isha feels stifled by her extended Indian family. Rosie’s parents are divorced; her mom suffers from PTSD and her dad’s a Nicaraguan immigrant. It’s hugely rewarding to see these young ladies forming their own identities and you’ll want to cheer them on as they navigate the treacherous waters of 21st-century society. If you were GOING ON 13, you’d be lucky to have friends like directors Kristy and Dawn. – B.B.