Not recommended under 8, parental guidance to 10, due to some disturbing themes
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not recommended due to some disturbing themes |
Children 8 - 10 | Parental guidance recommended due to some disturbing themes |
Children aged 10 and over | OK for this age group |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | First Position |
Classification: | G |
Consumer advice lines: | None |
Length: | 94 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Bess Kargman’s First Position is a feature-length documentary following the journey of six young dancers as they prepare for a prestigious ballet competition, the Youth America Grand Prix. Nine- to 19-year-old dancers compete through a series of rounds, with only 300 hopefuls making it to the finals in New York. Focusing on the stories of six individuals, the film offers a glimpse into the varied cultural and training backgrounds of the competitors.
Joan Sebastian Zamora is a sixteen-year-old from Colombia, whose parents sent him to American to train with a renowned dance mentor. Twelve-year-old Miko Fogarty and her younger brother both have dreams of becoming professional dancers, and have moved across the country to both train and compete. Michaela DePrince, a fourteen-year-old born in Sierra Leone during the civil war, is still haunted by the loss of her parents and the devastation she saw as a child. However, her love for dance has helped her cope, despite struggling through endless obstacles and injuries. Seventeen-year-old Rebecca Houseknecht has everything going for her, and hopes to skip college in order to go directly into working for a professional dance company, but the scarcity of jobs has made progressing in her career difficult thus far. Friends Aran Bell and Gaya Bommer have both travelled the world to follow their passion, and are equally determined to win their respective age categories and gain scholarships to exclusive dance schools.
Throughout the film, these six dancers face continual challenges, fight through exhaustion and injury, and sacrifice much of their childhoods in order to follow their dreams.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Children as performers; physical and mental endurance; social stereotypes and racism.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is no visual violence, but there are stories of violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could worry children under five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this age group may also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Children in this age group may be particularly disturbed by Michaela’s stories of what happened to her parents and teacher.
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film
None of concern
None of concern
None of concern
Aran’s ballet teacher is briefly seen smoking a cigarette while teaching his class.
None of concern
First Position is a compelling film that offers viewers a glimpse into the challenging world of ballet. It focuses on the stories of the six young dancers, the sacrifices both they and their families have made to allow them to follow their dreams, and their dedication, tenacity and determination. The dancers triumph over injuries and fatigue, and face stiff competition from around the globe. However, they do not always achieve the goals they set out to accomplish – whether that is obtaining scholarships to prestigious dance schools, or winning first place in their age categories. The film aims to present a realistic view of the world of dance, both in regards to the incredible satisfaction experienced by the dancers, but also the moments in which the young individuals question their choice to continue.
The film is probably of most interest to children over 8, but includes some descriptions of violence in Sierra Leone and some scenes of the physical toll on the dancers that might disturb younger children. Parental guidance is therefore recommended for 8-10 year olds.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
Parents may also wish to discuss:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
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Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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ABN: 16 005 214 531