Billy Elliot - 2000

Billy Elliot is a 2000 British drama film written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry. Set in the fictional town of "Everington" in the real County Durham, UK, it stars Jamie Bell as 11-year-old Billy, an aspiring dancer, Gary Lewis as his coal miner father, Jamie Draven as Billy's older brother, and Julie Walters as his ballet teacher. In 2001, author Melvin Burgess was commissioned to write the novelisation of the film based on Lee Hall's screenplay. The story was adapted for the West End stage as Billy Elliot the Musical in 2005; it opened in Australia in 2007 and on Broadway in 2008.

The film is set during the 1984–1985 UK miners' strike, and centres on the character of 11-year-old Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell), his love of dance, and his hope to become a professional ballet dancer. Billy lives with his widowed father, Jackie (Gary Lewis), older brother, Tony (Jamie Draven), and his invalid Nan (Jean Heywood), who once aspired to be a professional dancer. Both Jackie and Tony are coal miners out on strike.

Jackie takes Billy to the Sports Centre to learn boxing like his father's dad, but Billy struggles and dislikes the sport. He then happens upon a ballet class that is using the gym while their usual basement studio in the Sports Centre is temporarily being used as a soup kitchen for the striking miners. Unknown to Billy's father, he joins the ballet class. When Jackie discovers this after the boxing coach mentions Billy's absence, he forbids Billy to take any more ballet. But, passionate about dancing, Billy secretly continues his lessons with his dance teacher Georgia Wilkinson's (Julie Walters) help.

Georgia believes Billy is talented enough to study at the Royal Ballet School in London, but due to Tony's arrest during a skirmish between police and striking miners, Billy misses the audition. Georgia goes to Billy's house to tell Jackie about the missed opportunity. Jackie and Tony, fearing that Billy will be considered a "poof", are outraged at the prospect of him becoming a professional ballet dancer.