With her latest film, Bird, 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 play a central role in the film. They circle and accompany Bailey through her journey into adolescence, mirroring and symbolizing her inner emotional life. The tougher Bailey’s everyday reality threatens to become, the more strongly Andrea Arnold brings fantastical elements to the screen. In this way, Bird recalls a modern take on Ken Loach’s masterpiece Kes, as Arnold captures the wild transformation of a young girl from England’s lower social class without ever exploiting these characters. Bird premiered in the competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it made its world debut.