Going on 13

Co-directors Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Dawn Valadez's empathetic documentary Going on 13 follows Bay Area fourth-grade girls over a four-year period: African-American Ariana (who lost touch with her birth father years ago), Mexican-American Esmeralda (who endures ethnic slurs and insults about her weight), Nicaraguan-American Rosie, and Indian-American Isha. Interview clips of the girls talking about culture and self-esteem are intercut with glimpses of their lives in and out of the classroom: from Isha's Hindu prayers to Rosie's water balloon fights to Ariana's discomfort during a sex education class (a childbirth sequence also alarms several other girls). The filmmakers appear to have established a healthy rapport with their subjects, since the pre-adolescents talk openly in front of the camera (although the usually forthcoming Esme turns circumspect on the subject of kissing). In addition, the music-obsessed Rosie keeps a video diary documenting her father's move to a new house (her divorced parents share custody). Rounding out this snapshot of the central quartet are interviews with parents, friends, and teachers. As different as they may seem to be on the surface, all four girls must make adjustments between primary school and junior high, juggling domestic and academic responsibilities. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)