Eight fresh-faced youngsters from the Prince Alexei Troop of the Siberian Forest Pathfinders experience the great outdoors in this Baikal film from Russia. These are city boys, some experiencing the wilds of nature for the first time, and it shows in the wonder in their eyes as they explore this beautiful new environment. But much more than that, this is a test of both physical strength and mental fortitude, unlike anything they have ever faced before. The boys are broken into 2-teams, red and blue, given a compass / map and must make their way through the forest to a camp at a distance lake.
La révolte des enfants 1992
1h 37m | Drama | Release date: April 22, 1992 (France)
Storyline:
In the 19th century, children — particularly the children of the poor — were considered to be an exploitable resource of docile and cheap labor. Anyone who had the effrontery to steal so much as a portion of a loaf of bread for any reason would (at the very least) go to prison, regardless of their age. However, people of conscience were beginning to protest against this situation. The story takes place in a prison for children where conditions are particularly harsh. The warden is a thick-headed martinet who demands complete compliance with the rules, or the children will be brutally dealt with. The assistant warden is a more modern man, and is appalled by the whole institution, but seeks to begin by reforming it. To that end, he has invited a journalist to come and see the conditions that prevail there, in the hopes that she will rouse public opinion against at least this one form of injustice.
Anneliese is living together with her son Florian in a run-down farm. But her exaggerated demands drive him mad. Man and daughter work in the city. The 14-year-old son is supposed to fulfill the mother’s dreams and become a chemist. Still, the boy fits his wishes, but he secretly dreams of becoming a farmer. Then, the situation escalates.
Siddharta and Fabrizio, one of them nine years old, the other 65, are the core of a community that renounces every civilising comfort. Damiano Giacomelli and Lorenzo Raponi observe the life of the ‘Noci Sonanti’ over one summer marked by sun-drenched days and newborn cats.
Using his own terminology, Billy Pilgrim is “unstuck in time”, which means he is moving between different points in his life uncontrollably, although he is aware of it at certain of those points as witnessed by the letter to the editor he writes to the Ilium Daily News about his situation. Primarily, he is moving between three general time periods and locations. The first is his stint as a GI during WWII, when, as a pacifist, he was acting as a Chaplain’s assistant for his unit. This time is largely as a POW, where he was in Dresden the day of the bombing, spending it with among others an older compassionate GI named Edgar Derby, and a brash loudmouth GI named Paul Lazzaro. The second is his life as an optometrist in Ilium in upstate New York, eventually married to the wealthy and overbearing Valencia Merble, and having two offspring, Robert, who would spend his teen-aged years as a semi-delinquent, and Barbara, who would end up much like her mother. And the third is as an abductee on the planet Tralfamadore, along with his devoted dog Spot, and Hollywood starlet Montana Wildhack – who was not averse to taking off her clothes to further her career – the Tralfamadorians who have put them on display. The more time he spends on Tralfamadore, the more he understands the meaning of what is happening to him.
The End of the Track 1970
Pao dao zhong dian (original title)
1h 31m | Drama | Release date: 1970 (Taiwan)
Storyline:
Hsiao-Tung and Yung-shen are best friends who spend their time wandering the countryside, training for athletics, and hanging out at the dumpling stall operated by Yung-shen’s parents. When Yung-shen suffers an unexpected heart attack on the track field, it shakes his parents to the core – and sends Tung into a downhill spiral.
Feuerzeichen 1979
1h 42m | Drama | Release date: 1979 (West Germany)
Storyline:
Adrian Melik grows up as a scholarship holder in a private boarding school. On his thirteenth birthday he makes a suicide attempt: he wants to plunge from the roof of the boarding school. One of the firefighters, an American named Dave, takes care of the boy and a friendship develops over time. Adrian gets to know security, warmth, understanding and trust in Dave. At the boarding school, Adrian’s friendship with Dave is increasingly being viewed with suspicion and they eventually prohibit the boy from any further contact with the American. Adrian sees only one way to send a “sign” to his friend.
Niñato 2017
1h 12m | Documentary, Drama | Release date: May 11, 2018 (Spain)
Storyline:
Jobless and with no prospects, “Niñato” (Kid) lives with his parents and does hip-hop music. He lives the life of the outskirts, it’s the Madrid of the chronic crisis. But he is 34 years old and has 3 children to bring up. Time goes by, the kids are growing up and “Niñato” carries on, making music and looking after the children, without worrying too much about his future. Oro, the smallest one, not too motivated at school, will demand more attention and drive “Niñato” to face his own conflicts.
