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Sapphic love and synchronised swimming make unlikely but surprisingly sweet bedfellows in Water Lilies, the first feature from writer-director Céline Sciamma. Set in a bland Parisian suburb during a sultry summer it stars newcomer Pauline Acquart as Marie, a gangly teen who's desperate to join the synchronised swim team. Or is she? Perhaps she's just desperate to kiss slutty bad girl Floriane (Adèle Haenel)... Unfolding with a slow, steady certainty, this touching tale dives headfirst into the deep end of hormonal angst.

Straight out of film school, debut writer-director Céline Sciamma offers a sympathetic, though sometimes ironic, take on these girls' desires. Playing up the perpetual threat of embarrassment, she captures the uncomfortable awkwardness of adolescence perfectly: Marie is concerned she has one arm longer than the other; meanwhile her ugly duckling friend Anne (Louise Blachère) strips off at inappropriate moments in a tragically desperate attempt to woo the school's swim jock (Warren Jacquin). With no parents around, these girls are forced to make their own way. As we watch their ungainly flailing, the film's cryptic French title ("Birth Of Octopuses") suddenly makes sense.

"A FRAGILE DRAMA ABOUT LESBIAN DESIRE"

Handling the drama with quiet assurance, Sciamma teases two incredibly expressive performances from her young cast: Haenel is like a Parisian Scarlett Johansson - all pouting poses and teasing come on - while Acquart throws a never-ending barrage of long, loving looks in her direction. Never blossoming into anything more than a fragile drama about lesbian desire it's an understated debut; but it's laced with a confidence that suggests Sciamma could be one to watch. Best of all, the helmer turns the surreal world of synchronised swimming - where these children are plastered in waterproof makeup, fixed grins and sequined costumes until they look like grotesque parodies of adult women - into the perfect visual metaphor for their coming of age woes.

Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres) is out in the UK on 14th March 2008.