Max Minsky and Me

What a surprisingly forthright and entertaining slice of teen romance this festival entry has turned out to be. It centres itself on young, bookish, bespectacled, Jewish astro-physics student Nelly, who finds herself besotted with a Luxembourg Prince. An opportunity to meet him arises, but it involves her getting into the basketball team.

Academics she can do, but sport? No way. So she makes an arrangement with a good-looking basketball-playing lad to swap their respective knowledge; she’ll help him with maths as long as he shows her some ball skills. Meanwhile, all her parents want her to do is get ready for her Bat Mitzvah. There’s some lovely interplay between the two leads (Zoe Moore, Emil Reinke) and it all trundles along in merry, albeit predictable, fashion.