Set in the Himalayan foothills of a conservative Indian boarding school, Girls Will Be Girls follows Mira (Preeti Panigrahi), a bright, disciplined 16-year-old prefect. Mira is the model student: top of her class, compliant with authority, and a dutiful daughter to her young, lonely mother, Anila (Kani Kusruti). When a charming but awkward new student, Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron), arrives and shows interest in Mira, she awakens to her own sexuality. However, her exploration is not a typical teen romp. Mira’s mother, starved for affection and trapped in a stale marriage, begins a silent, unsettling competition with her daughter for the same boy’s attention.
Won the John Cassavetes Award in 2025.