‘What? You can kiss a girl?’
Adapted from her graphic novel On Loving Women (2014), in I Like Girls (2016), the Quebec-based Abenaki illustrator and author Diane Obomsawin (aka Obom) animates four women’s first experiences of being attracted to another girl. Exploring stories collected from friends, Obomsawin captures the excitement and confusion of sexual awakening, the vulnerability inherent to forming romantic connections for the first time, and the tender thrill of first love. Obomsawin’s piece stands apart for the playful world it builds around the charming anthropomorphic animals that populate it and her depiction of queer attraction not as a rare feat or extraordinary struggle, but as an unexceptional yet distinct slice of human experience. Simultaneously, the film highlights the beauty of uncovering an essential part of oneself and finding a supportive community to share it with – experiences that often carry a unique resonance for queer people.