Julia Ritschel

She doesn't know it yet, but this year's sweltering summer will mark the end of Svenja's childhood. The butt of endless jokes at her school, Svenja finds solace under the wing of a fellow outcast - the school's janitor and his impressive collection of pigeons. Despite this burgeoning new friendship and unlikely hobby, temptation draws her to the dazzling and mischievous popular girl Janine, who takes an interest in the naive Svenja.

That feeling of apprehension, of doubt - the sensation of butterflies before taking the plunge. Five women and the objects of their affection face up to their futures in these thoroughly modern tales of lesbian love from France, Germany, Israel, Italy and the UK. The richness and enthralling complexity of same-sex desire has never looked so inviting.

A forbidden relationship between a student and her french teacher shows how passionate and exciting but also how complicated and painful love can be.

Set in a conservative 1900s society, the movie tells the story of a woman who breaks free from her restricted life to meet her forbidden lover, a trans man who shows her how to love and lust.