With her latest film British director Andrea Arnold returns to the adolescent worlds she explored so vividly in her breakthrough film Fish Tank. This time, she tells the story of Bailey, a twelve-year-old girl living with her half-brother Hunter and her father Bug (Barry Keoghan). Bug, a tattooed bundle of energy, is starting a small drug operation involving a hallucinogenic toad and planning to marry his new girlfriend, which hardly excites Bailey. Instead, she is drawn to her brother’s unconventional group, who roam around on a vigilante mission against pedophiles and violent offenders. Amidst this chaotic world, Bailey meets a special person: Bird (Franz Rogowski), who appears to her in a skirt on a horse pasture and, with his gentle nature, gives her hope. As the title Bird suggests, birds are central to the film, circling and accompanying Bailey on her journey through adolescence while reflecting and symbolizing her inner emotional world. As Bailey's everyday reality grows harsher, Andrea Arnold increasingly weaves fantastical elements into the narrative. In this sense, Bird evokes a contemporary reimagining of Ken Loach’s classic Kes, as Arnold portrays the raw transformation of a young girl from England’s lower social class with empathy and authenticity, never exploiting her characters. Bird had its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.