GIRLS DON'T CRY

Six teenage girls from six countries confront very different challenges as they fight to determine their own futures. From a girl in Tanzania escaping female genital mutilation and a Yazidi refugee rebuilding her life in Germany to a young woman challenging beauty standards in South Korea, their stories reveal courage and female resistance in the face of discrimination, trauma, and social pressure. Despite vastly different circumstances, they share a longing for love, freedom, equality, and the right to shape their own lives.

THE FILMMAKER

Sigrid Klausmann is a German documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer whose work focuses on the lives, experiences, and rights of children and young people. Born in Furtwangen in Germany's Black Forest region, she began her career as a physical education teacher, dancer, and choreographer before turning to documentary filmmaking in 2003. Together with her husband, actor Walter Sittler, she founded Schneegans Productions. Her films explore childhood, adolescence, identity, and social issues, with a particular emphasis on giving young people a voice. Klausmann's documentaries include Lisette and Her Children, At Home, Not Without Us!, and Leonie and the Way to the Top. She also served as lead director of the international documentary project 199 Little Heroes, which explores the lives of children around the world through their journeys to school. Her films have received numerous international festival awards and recognition. Her latest documentary, Girls Don't Cry, co-directed with Lina Lužytė.

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

ECFA Documentary Award – Filem'On – International Film Festival for Young Audiences, Belgium
Best Documentary – KINEKO International Film Festival, Japan
Bridging the Border Award – LUCAS – International Festival for Young Film Lovers, Germany
Best Documentary Feature – Interrobang Film Festival, US
Red Cross Award – BUSTER – Copenhagen International Film Festival for Children and Youth, Denmark
Best Documentary – Cinema d'Idea International Women's Film Festival, Italy
Honorable Mention, Youth Jury – BUFF Malmö Film Festival, Sweden
Honorable Mention, Youth Jury – Oulu International Children's and Youth Film Festival, Finland
Honorable Mention, Young Jury – Kinofest Lünen, Germany
Best Original Score – Documentary Feature (Nomination) – International Sound & Film Music Festival, Croatia
Best Documentary (Nomination) – German Audio-Described Film Award, Germany
Best Documentary Feature (Nomination) – AFIN International Film Festival, Australia
Just Film – Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Estonia
Zlín Film Festival – International Film Festival for Children and Youth, Czech Republic
Busan International Kids & Youth Film Festival, South Korea
Porto/Post/Doc – Film & Media Festival, Portugal
Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival, Germany
Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival, Norway
Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People, Greece
Inconvenient Films – International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Lithuania
Pordenone Docs Fest, Italy
Castellinaria – Festival of Young Cinema, Switzerland
Rhodope International Documentary Film Festival, Bulgaria
Ojo de Pescado International Film Festival for Children and Young People, Chile
Baltic Sea Docs, Latvia
City of Women International Festival of Contemporary Arts, Slovenia
ATLANTIDOC International Documentary Film Festival, Uruguay
Giffoni Macedonia Youth Film Festival, North Macedonia
Central Scotland Documentary Festival, United Kingdom
Women's Worlds Film Festival, Germany
CINEDU – International Children's and Youth Film Festival, Slovakia
Young Film Festival Cologne (Cinepänz), Germany
Noordelijk Film Festival, Netherlands
International Film Weekend Würzburg, Germany
Frozen River Film Festival, US
Nevada Women's Film Festival, US
Worldwide Women's Film Festival, US
International Women Filmmakers Festival, Turkey
mujerDOC – International Documentary Film Festival on Gender, Spain
Peloponnese International Documentary Film Festival, Greece
What the Doc! International Documentary Film Festival, Thailand
Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, US
MONIFF – Monadnock International Film Festival, US
BUZZ International Film Festival, Romania
ZOOMZ Children's and Youth Film Festival, Switzerland
Kinshasa International Film Festival (FICKIN), Democratic Republic of the Congo
Rojava International Film Festival, Syria
Women's Film Days Tübingen, Germany
SehPferdchen Film Festival, Germany
PROKINO – German-Language Film Week, France
Upper Swabia Film Festival, Germany
ZOOMZ Film Days Zug, Switzerland
Yellowknife Film Festival, Canada
Women International Film Festival, Pakistan
Cinema of the World International Film Festival, India
CinemaKing International Film Festival, Bangladesh