23rd Calgary Underground Film Festival

April 16-26, 2026 Globe Cinema

14th CUFF.Docs Documentary Film Festival

November 18-22, 2026 Globe Cinema

THE BEARDED GIRL

Canada, 2025: 101 minutes: Alberta Premiere
Globe Cinema
April 20 6:30 PM Buy
Special Guest!
THE_BEARDED_GIRL_hero_still
Globe Cinema
Mon, Apr 20 6:30 PM Buy

description

The story of a bearded girl who is tired of being a freak.

On the brink of inheriting the position of "The Bearded Woman" – matriarchal leader to an outcast community of circus performers – a young woman defies her overbearing mother and runs away instead. Free from the expectations and responsibilities at home, she seeks romance and adventure with the normies in a tiny farm town. In order to fit in, she reinvents herself with stories of a fabricated past, until the truth of who she is can no longer be concealed.

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Fantasia International Film Festival 2025
Fantaspoa 2026

DIRECTOR'S BIO
Born in Alberta, Jody Wilson is an award winning director, writer and producer with a background in VFX and screenplay development. She focuses on the intersection of surrealism, grit and emotional truth, resulting in work that carries a tactile, grounded visual sensibility and an instinct for the unsettling, centering characters in rupture while exploring class, power, and identity. Her debut short film as a director, INDIGO, won multiple awards and screened at over 16 international festivals in the 2016/2017 circuit. THE BEARDED GIRL is their debut feature film.

press for The Bearded Girl

"A charming story about the ways in which we are both beholden to and repulsed by the traditions and family obligations laid at our feet, THE BEARDED GIRL is sure to speak to young girls in a way that will truly matter."
- ScreenAnarchy
"THE BEARDED GIRL is a delightfully charming coming-of-age tale that celebrates embracing yourself over wearing the bland mask of conformity."
- That Shelf

details

First Feature / Women Director / Fantasy / Narrative / Drama / Coming of Age

English
101 minutes

special guest

Director & screenwriter Jody Wilson in attendance

credits

Director
Jody Wilson

Screenwriter
Jody Wilson

Producers
Amber Ripley
Jody Wilson

Cinematographer
François Dagenais

Editor
Fredrik Thorsen

Music
Cayne McKenzie

Cast
Anwen O'Driscoll
Jessica Paré
Linden Porco
Skylar Radzion
Brendan Riley
Keenan Tracey