Skellig: The Owl Man 2009
1h 42m | Drama, Family, Fantasy | Release date: April 12, 2009 (United Kingdom)
Storyline:
Unatheletic pre-teen schoolboy Michael is dragged to a new home in the countryside by his father Dave. Fitting in with new classmates is hard, but Michael bonds with protective jock Leakey and a fellow nerd nature lover. In a garden shed he discovers a strange, weak man with owl wings, who becomes a friend whom he helps regain strength and evacuates him to a tree house when father burns down the shed. Learning the ‘owl man’ is a rundown force of nature, Michael hopes he can help his baby sister’s probably fatal medical condition.
Forever and a Day 2022
1h 18m | Drama | Release date: October 20, 2022 (United States)
Storyline:
Best friends embark on the challenges of Freshmen year while working through their own problems, until a tragic incident changes everything with their community left in devastation.
A Son’s Promise 1990
1h 35m | Drama, Family | Release date: March 5, 1990 (United States)
Storyline:
The touching true story of 15-year-old Terry who promised his dying mother to look after his six younger brothers and keep them together as a family–a man’s job on a boy’s shoulders. He had to face many misfortunes and “parenthood” had such hard and unpleasant surprises for him, he was almost tempted to disappoint his mother..
Before I Change My Mind 2022
1h 29m | Drama | Release date: August 10, 2022 (Switzerland)
Storyline:
The year is 1987, and the place is Alberta, Canada. For Robin (Vaughan Murrae), their first day at a brand-new school is full of dread, for Robin knows that the first question they will be asked is, “Are you a boy or a girl?” Robin defies simple gender labels, and their appearance immediately attracts the attention and curiosity of Carter (Dominic Lippa), a boy who spends most of his time getting into or causing trouble. But while Carter’s interest may initially come with a sharp tongue, Robin is equally curious about him and spends time forging a new and close friendship with Carter. Meanwhile, the girls surrounding Robin find them impossible to pigeonhole, much to their frustration, but one, Izzy (Lacey Oake), sees an opportunity for experimentation. However, Izzy has also caught Carter’s eye, and an uneasy early teenage love triangle soon develops that is less about gender or sexuality and more about one simple question, “Who Am I?
The Secret of Roan Inish 1994
1h 43m | Drama, Family, Fantasy | Release date: February 3, 1995 (United States)
Storyline:
10-year-old Fiona is sent to live with her grandparents in a small fishing village in Donegal, Ireland. She soon learns the local legend that an ancestor of hers married a Selkie – a seal who can turn into a human. Years earlier, her baby brother washed out to sea in a cradle shaped like a boat; someone in the family believes the boy is being raised by the seals. Then Fiona catches sight of a naked little boy on the abandoned Isle of Roan Inish and takes an active role in uncovering the secret of Roan Inish.
Among the Cinders 1984
1h 44m | Drama | Release date: July 1985 (United States)
Storyline:
Author Maurice Shadbolt went before the cameras to play father to the main character, in this adaptation of his acclaimed coming of age novel. Teen Nick is estranged from his family, and blaming himself for his Maori mate’s climbing death. He runs away to his straight talking grandfather – who takes him bush – and loses his virginity to Sally (a first film role for Rebecca Gibney).
A Dog of Flanders 1999
1h 40m | Family, Drama | Release date: August 27, 1999 (United States)
Storyline:
Poor, but happy, young Nello and his grandfather live alone, delivering milk as a livelihood, in the outskirts of Antwerp, a city in Flanders (the Flemish or Dutch-speaking part of modern-day Belgium). They discover a beaten dog (a Bouvier, a large sturdy dog native to Flanders) and adopt it and nurse it back to health, naming it Patrasche, the middle name of Nello’s mother Mary, who died when Nello was very young. Nello’s mother was a talented artist, and like his mother, he delights in drawing, and his friend Aloise is his model and greatest fan and supporter.
The Railway Children 1970
1h 49m | Drama, Family | Release date: December 22, 1970 (United Kingdom)
Storyline:
In Edwardian England, the story of the Waterbury family is told largely from the perspective of the three offspring and by oldest, teenage daughter Bobbie. Their loving and relatively affluent family life in suburban London, financially supported by father Charles’ job as a government bureaucrat, includes both parents being a present and welcome part of their children’s activities. Their existence is upended when on Christmas evening 1904, Charles is whisked away without warning by two men. Subsequently, the remaining family is forced to move, they renting a rundown and drafty house, Three Chimneys, in the rural village of Oakworth, Yorkshire. While the three children know that they are now poor by their existence, all their Mother has told Bobbie is that Father is not dead, that he will someday return to them when he is able, and for Bobbie and the others not to ask questions about what happened to him. The three are now forced to find a way to occupy their time while Mother tries to earn pocket money by writing and selling stories, many of their activities which are centered on the railway near their house and the railway tunnel a few miles away from the village station. Their life along the railway at least addresses one of the complaints the three had about their life in London, that not much ever happened, which is not the case along the railway as they get into one adventure after another. In the process, they learn to enjoy life in their new situation, which includes the friendship and admiration of many of the villagers in all the Waterburys’ inherent kindness and generosity. But the question still remains, at least for the three children, of what happened to Father.
