L’enfance nue 1968
1h 23min | Drama | 22 January 1969 (France)
Storyline:
An anguished foster child takes to mischief and lies as his foster parents do their best to love and care for him. But it might be too little, too late in this emotionally devastating portrayal of the orphaned child.
Oorlogsgeheimen 2014
1h 35min | Drama, Family, History | 3 July 2014 (Netherlands)
Storyline:
Summer 1943. Tuur and Lambert are best friends. The surrounding of their idyllic village has no secrets for the teenagers. From the farm of Lamberts dad to the marl caves in the woods – it’s their world. But the war is closing in and is about to change their lives forever. Tuur’s dad joined the resistance and even his big brother seems to be a part of it. Lambert’s family on the other hand choose to obey the Germans. Then a new girl from the city shows up, befriending the boys but telling her secret to only one of them. A choice that separates the boys and ultimately gets her in trouble. Tuur not only risks losing his friendship with Lambert, but even his whole family. He will have to stop at nothing to safeguard both.
Ciske de Rat 1984
1h 46m | Drama | 29 March 1984 (Netherlands)
Storyline:
11 year old Amsterdam schoolboy Ciske, a scamp with a heart of gold, causes havoc in the classroom pouring ink over his teacher. Yet when a polio-crippled boy joins the class Ciske is one of the only children to befriend him and is bullied as a result. His mother works in a bar and Ciske helps out often late into the night – his father is at sea and his mother supplements her income with prostitution. Ciske also smolders with rage at life’s injustices.
Somers Town 2008
1h 11min | Comedy, Drama | 22 August 2008 (UK)
Storyline:
Two teenagers, both newcomers to London, forge an unlikely friendship over the course of a hot summer. Tomo is a runaway from Nottingham; Marek lives in the district of Somers Town, between King’s Cross and Euston stations, where his dad is working on a new rail link. The boys are both infatuated with the same girl, and pass their days bickering over which of them loves her the most. Finding himself homeless, Tomo surreptitiously moves into Marek’s bedroom – but it’s only a matter of time before Marek’s dad discovers what’s going on…
La Traversee Du Phare 1999
La traversée du phare (original title)
1h 36min | family | TV Movie 27 January 1999
Storyline:
Crossing The Lighthouse is a story about the encounter of two ten-year old children (Jim Redler and Katty Loisel) who share a similar past. Two orphans who have taken refuge in lies to conceal a reality that causes them too much suffering. Two children who would like other people to stop treating them as though they are different, who want to live like everyone else. If this encounter is the result of chance, nothing will ever seperate them again. They need each other to learn to live again. The power of their friendship will be so great that it will change the attitude of the adults who come into contact with them.
All God’s Children 2012
Toti copiii domnului (original title) Drama | 19 October 2012 (Romania)
Storyline:
The film narrates the story of Irina and Peter, a couple who lost their young child in an accident. The couple moves to Moldova and adopts Pavalas, a child that reminds them of their late son.
La maison des bois 1971
52min | Drama | TV Mini-Series (1971– )
User review:
Set in the French countryside during the Great War of 1914-18 Pialat’s extraordinary seven episode TV serial extends the themes of his debut feature L’Enfance Nue, the director however having much more freedom and time to explore the nature of childhood and the impact on children abandoned by their parents. The series focuses on the experiences of three children (including even Michel Tarrazon, the young star of the earlier movie) living out in the country with gamekeeper Albert and Maman Jeanne on the country estate of a Marquis. The gamekeeper and his wife have their own older children, Marcel and Marguerite, but the three boys have been sent there by their parents who have been caught up in the war, the fathers called up to the front, the mothers simply unable to look after them in the present climate.
Quand j’avais 5 ans je m’ai tué 1994
1h 40min | Drama | 2 February 1994 (France)
Storyline:
This film is about Gils, a young boy (about ten) in a juvenile mental hospital in 1950’s France. Flashbacks recount his conflicts with authority and his strong relationship with Jessica, a similarly rebellious schoolmate. Simultaneously, a compassionate doctor develops a trusting friendship with Gils, which a higher-ranking authoritarian doctor tries to thwart.
Zip and Zap and the Captain’s Island 2016
Zipi y Zape y la Isla del Capitán (original title) Adventure | 29 July 2016 (Spain)
Storyline:
It’s Christmas and Zip and Zap are up to their old tricks. But this time they’ve gone too far and their punishment will be no Christmas vacation and a seemingly boring boat trip with their parents instead. To their surprise, the destination is a spectacular remote island. But a terrifying storm rolls in and they’re forced to seek shelter at a mansion belonging to the eccentric Miss Pam, where children without families enjoy a paradise with no rules. Helped by their new friends, Flecky, Macky and Pippi, the brothers discover that their parents’ sudden disappearance in the middle of the night is related to the mysterious secret behind the island and its strange inhabitants.