Scrapper

Scrapper is a lean little drama about a 12-year-old girl, living alone in her council house in Essex after the death of her single mother, scraping by selling stolen bicycles with her mate. Georgie’s marginal existence is soon threatened by the arrival of her errant father. Reluctantly, Georgie accepts him, and he becomes a part of her life as a companion offering advice on bike theft.

This is the first film from British director Charlotte Regan and it balances imagination and low-key humour with its social realism. Regan avoids a completely dour reality with the odd fanciful interlude Lola Campbell plays the role of Georgie. She is full of independent spirit and adult-mindedness - after all, she's paying the rent - and has a secretive interior life where she is still allowed to be a child. By avoiding sentimentality, Scrapper becomes a father-daughter story with loving detail. But it is also a film where an awkward “shall we have a cuddle, then?” is enough to move you to tears.

The film was chosen by film critic Christina Newland