Thirteen-year-old best friends Bobo and Klara are not afraid to be different. Challenged by peers who view their rough hair-cuts, androgynous appearance and love of punk music with disdain, the girls are undeterred and start their own band, despite their lack of musical ability. Impressed by fellow outcast Hedwig’s solo guitar performance at a school concert (which she finishes despite taunts from the audience), the girls harangue the willowy, quiet teenager into joining their band and soon the mutinous trio are inseparable. Based on Coco Moodysson’s graphic novel and set in Stockholm 1982, this is a hugely enjoyable, often humorous and refreshingly accurate depiction of young friendship and defiance. (Notes by Alice Butler.)

Winner of Best Actress (joint best actress for Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin, Liv LeMoyne) at the Dublin Film Critics Circle at JDIFF 2014. The Dublin Film Critics Circle jury critic Brogen Hayes explains in her blog post why three young actresses stood out in We Are The Best, earning them the Best Actress gong at JDIFF 2014.

This film is screening as part of Rock&Roll, the final of our three-month season dedicated to excess, presenting examples of how cinema has taken on sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll in Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll.