White Morning

A day in the life of Ako, a 16-year-old Japanese girl, and her friends and coworkers is the focus of this segment. The film begins with an alarm clock waking her in a dormitory, followed by her getting ready for work and traveling to a large bakery. Scenes show her with friends, chatting and laughing, as well as working. Later, they go out together, seven of them crammed into an old Pontiac, visiting a bowling alley, an amusement park, and then driving around. A potential car trouble incident may place Ako at risk, raising the question of whether she will be okay. This segment is one of four film sketches included in the anthology film *That Tender Age* (*La fleur de l'âge, ou Les adolescentes*), which explores the problems of adolescents facing the adult world in the 1960s. The other three sketches were directed by Michel Brault, Jean Rouch, and Gian Vittorio Baldi.