We Were Dangerous

After being sent to a reform school for “delinquent” girls, Nellie, Daisy and Lou are learning to adjust to a new life on a remote island. The teenagers rebel against a system that attempts to reprogram the girls into subservient housewives and mothers.

New Zealand, the 1950s. Teenagers Nellie and Daisy are caught shoplifting and sent to a reform school located on an isolated island, where a zealous catholic bigot known as the Matron oversees the girls' education and enforces a strict system of punishment. She suppresses the girls' expression of Māori culture and punishes them for dancing rock and roll. At the school, sexuality, and puberty are taboo. Nellie and Daisy meet and befriend Lou, a European girl. Together, the teenagers find strength in their solidarity and rebel against the oppressive system that forces them into the role of submissive, obedient Christian housewives and mothers. The film explores themes of female community, resistance to systemic control, and the sinister side of historical reform institutions.

Film recommended by Młode Głowy.

The screening will be accompanied by a short film, My Mother and I (dir. Emma Branderhorst, 18')