You are here:

Coming of Age

Name: Coming of Age
Director: Teboho Edkins
Released: 2015
Duration: 63 min

No Poster Available

Representation Score

9.0/10

Excellent

2015

Director

Teboho Edkins

Runtime

63 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Coming of Age is a vital piece of observational cinema that challenges standard Western coming-of-age narratives. By focusing on the lived experiences of Basotho youth, the film offers a meaningful counter-narrative to homogenized global depictions of adolescence. The documentary excels in its cultural and racial authenticity, presenting a non-Western perspective that allows subjects to play a significant role in the story. It avoids the outsider's gaze, instead highlighting the complex interplay between individual ability to act and communal traditions. However, the film remains neutral on LGBTQ+ and disability representation. While it captures the physical demands of the environment, it does not explicitly address these specific identity vectors within its current narrative scope.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does Coming of Age have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

There are no explicit references to LGBTQ+ characters or non-straight relationships in the film.

How does Coming of Age portray gender?

Good

The documentary presents a nuanced look at gender through the experiences of both male and female characters. It highlights the evolving friendship between two girls as they navigate different educational paths.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Coming of Age?

Excellent

The film centers on the lives of people from the Lesotho highlands, providing an authentic Basotho-centric perspective. It avoids the outsider's viewpoint typically found in ethnographic films.

How does Coming of Age represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The narrative examines the tension between traditional communal structures and modern institutions. It portrays the struggle between individuation and tradition without idealizing the challenges of rural life.

Does Coming of Age include disability representation?

Fair

While the film documents the physical demands of living in the highlands, it does not specifically address the portrayal of visible or invisible disabilities.

Present on Screen

Provides an authentic, non-Western perspective that avoids the typical outsider's viewpoint.
Offers a nuanced exploration of gender through both male and female characters.
Effectively captures the complex tension between tradition and modern institutions.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation or focus on LGBTQ+ identities.
Does not provide verifiable evidence regarding the portrayal of disabilities.

Official Synopsis

In the Lesotho highlands, a 15-year-old boy tends his family's flock of sheep alone through the winter. His younger brother might have to quit the village school to help him. And two girls attempt to maintain their unique friendship when one of them goes off to attend a better school and the other stays in the village. Over the span of two years the film accompanies four teenagers in an isolated mountain village on their path to adulthood - a path between individuation and tradition.

How are these scores produced? →