White Sneakers (Iran)

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Wearing white sneakers, Payam Amiri enters Bushehr as a new teacher at Sa´adat School. His arrival leads to different events in the school and in his resistant neighborhood. Some of the students are attracted to his new methods, while others are just watching what is going on. After meeting with a girl named Zivar, the young teacher gets involved in the problems of one of his students. Following a bitter incident, helpless and shocked, the teacher finds out that he is a stranger.

Gyumri (Czech Republic - Documentary)

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On December 7, 1988, the Armenian town of Gyumri was struck by a devastating earthquake in which officials say 25,000 people lost their lives; unofficial figures claim 70,000 dead. More than one third of the victims were children. In reaction to their painful losses, many mourning parents reacted by naming newly-born children after their dead brothers and sisters. With many of the children, this fact has caused problems with self-identification and many of them today believe that the soul of their deceased siblings lives with them or directly in them… The renowned director Jana Ševčíková (Old Believers, Rites of Spring) spent three years making this documentary about life after the catastrophe.

La tercera guerra de los ninos (Spain - 1982)

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The third part of a series about kids from the Don Matías private school was one of the most successful live-action films for children in the history of Spanish cinema. The film starts with the return of small heroes from the American Disneyland. Happy and full of impressions they must get used to the idea that school has to start again. But there's more bad news. Vicky, the daughter of the hated Don Atilio, owner of the school, will study in their class. They start a series of events aimed at hurting the girl, but in the end they realize that the girl suffers from her father's authoritarian behaviour just as much as they do. In the end all turns out well but the little rascals must overcome a number of traps.

Tic Tac (Spain - 1997)

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The main hero Héctor asks the three kings to show him what eternity means. But you should be very careful about what you wish for. One day, when the boy travels by train with his parents, he suddenly finds himself in a railway station where clocks are losing time and he suddenly can't find his parents. He's entered a dreamy fairy-tale world. The stationmaster and his two children take him in and try to help him to get back to his parents, but it won't be easy. It's necessary to turn the natural flow of events backwards. Because of this, the boy gets into unbelievable situations which combine live acting with musical, magic with irony: a Frog Prince who wishes to remaine enchanted, dwarf dancers, the Sun talking to the Moon, an evil witch and her soup…

Tak to vidím já - Jája (Czech Republic - Documentary Short)

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A film taken from the life of eight-year-old Jája; skateboarder, sprayer and rapper living in Český Krumlov. Or "Český Krumlov is the best? UH-HUH, UH-HUH, UH-HUUUHHUUUHHUH!?" Set in this town full of cultural, heritage and national monuments (some even listed on the UNESCO list), we meet the eight-year-old Jan Pingitzer. He was born here, this is where he lives and is growing up. But is mind is not currently filled with admiration for the sights around him. On the contrary, he does not notice them at all. He rides his skateboard through the streets of the historical town, rapping his songs. He talks about his first loves and sprays pictures of all the members of his family. He does not want to admire somebody else's past, he wants to create his own past in the present!

Tak to vidím já - Filip (Czech Republic - Documentary Short)

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A series of documentaries for children in which the main hero introduces his or her story without any corrections by screenplay or directorial plan. The documentaries offer an egoistical view of the world, handled from the current perspective of a child or a young person. The world as seen with the eyes of the 8-year-old Romany boy Filip is divided in two - the world outside and the world at home. Filip lives in a balcony house, is a member of a socially excluded community, is not part of society, and lives in a ghetto. Though only eight he is aware of the power of education and would like to break free from the bonds of the community into which he was born, despite the complicated social environment he is living in. He is pursuing his goal - a better life.

Thanks for all the films and reviews (and great pics) from the movies, old and new.

An argument could be made that Czech cinema has produced more kids films (and enticing ones at that) than any country in the world..... in a ratio of kids films to total films produced within the country.

More and more of these old movies are finding their way to the public, but there are no less than 30 or 40 that are still way up on the next-to-impossible-to-see wish list.

I'm dying here..... sooo many films....

How to see them? How to see them?

El Paso (Czech Republic)

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After her husband’s death, Věra Horváthová discovers that she presents a problem for most of society. After years of not paying the rent, she is moved into a small welfare flat where, despite the rough conditions, she tries to give her seven children everything they need. She doesn’t understand why social workers are trying to take her kids away, legal jargon confuses her, and she refuses to feel guilty for being Romany. Fortunately, she isn’t alone, but in order for her new gadji friends to help her, they must first earn her trust and enter her world. Following the success of The Brats (2002), director Zdeněk Tyc once again returns to a Romany story inspired by true events in which people don’t speak of love, but live it. This subtly poetic story, combining experienced actors and Romany non-actors, stirs empathy within the mass of society for their “other” fellow citizens. “El paso is a slang expression for attack, and we’d like – in a good way – to attack our viewers,” says the director.



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Originally from Jamaica, Jude is a single mother of a 12-year-old boy named Ciel. She works as a nurse at a hospital. Jude and Ciel live for each other, and Ciel knows when his mother doesn’t feel well; he’s even found his own method of protecting his mom from bad things. A former boxer, Silence is past his prime and he now only competes in illegal matches in order to make ends meet. One evening he is injured and Jude treats him at the hospital. Although almost no words are spoken at their meeting, a bond is established between them, and a mere week at the end of summer is enough to change the lives of all three.



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Little Tedo and his mother were forced to flee their native Abkhazia during the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. His father was seriously ill and had to stay behind in Abkhazia. Several years later, 12-year-old Tedo is trying to scrape a living with his mother on the outskirts of the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Tedo helps out in a car repair shop, while his mother works as a shop assistant. Tedo finds it hard to come to terms with his difficult situation and with his life as a refugee. When he comes across his mother with a lover one day, he decides to go back to Abkhazia to seek out his father, whom he has not heard from since he arrived in Georgia. During his wretched journey to “the other bank”, Tedo faces vulnerability and encounters hostility, but he also finds compassion. The Other Bank is a universal story which speaks of the consequences of war, of nationalism and of children who were forced by circumstances to grow up before their time.

Angel at Sea won the best film award at Karlovy Vary this year. Filip Garbacz won an acting award for his work in Swinki.

I hope this improves the chances that these films at least will see wider distribution.

More movies to dream about. Wonderful, informative job as usual, Zab.

Wonderful films and reviews Zab. Thanks for all of your efforts.