Daddy Longlegs (USA)

With Daddy Longlegs (formerly known as
Go Get Some Rosemary), Josh and Benny
Safdie have crafted a realistic fairy tale that
captures the magic of parenthood, invoking
memories of their inventive dad from their
own childhood.
Divorced and alone, Lenny (the perfectly cast
Ronnie Bronstein) is the father of two young
boys he gets to see a couple of weeks a
year. He cherishes these days with the kids,
being both stern parent and lovable buddy,
inventing myths and somehow living them,
all while working overtime in the big city.
When the going gets tough, Lenny uses some
unusual, perhaps even hazardous, techniques
to keep the kids safe from the world.
Because of the film’s fluid style, we feel that
we are in the boxing ring alongside Lenny,
as flawed as he is charismatic, champion of
each day, yet totally black and blue. As the
storm of society continually rains on him,
Lenny laughs through it all. Isn’t life crazy?


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Abel  (Mexico)

Adorable little Abel has problems in the head.
His mother collects him from the psychiatric
ward hoping not to upset him. She carefully
discusses with his teacher how to deal with
the absence of Abel’s father. The entire family
is on pins and needles, worrying about Abel
breaking down. But things take an interesting
turn when the little boy emphatically carves
out a new role for himself in the family—he
decides to become the father of the house.
Abel transforms the fear his family has about
his episodes into the respect due to the head
of the household. Oddly enough, it works!
That is, until a stranger shows up at the
breakfast table, claiming to be Abel’s father.
Diego Luna, in his debut effort, crafts a
heartwarming tale of the way one family’s
dynamic works through peculiar means. Abel
is an entertaining and endearing family drama
that manages to infuse its foreboding tone
with a delightful sense of humor.

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Out of all of those Abel sounds the most interesting, Mexico seem to be making some really good movies lately.

Berlin is the premier festival in the month of February.
Didn't find that much new.

Bal [Honey]  (Turkey)

Six-year-old Yusuf has just begun attending primary school where he is learning how to read and write. His father, Yakup, is a beekeeper. He goes about his trade deep inside the woods where he hangs up his bee hives in the treetops of the highest trees. The mountain forest is a place of deep mystery to Yusuf and he derives great pleasure from accompanying his father there.
One morning Yusuf tells his father about a dream he had the night before. Zakup turns on him curtly telling him never to share his dreams with others. The same day, Yusuf is asked to read out a text in front of the class. He suddenly begins to stutter and he is laughed at by the rest of the class.
One day the bees suddenly disappear, throwing into question the family’s means of earning a living. Yakup decides to set off for the remote mountains. But no sooner has he left, than Yusuf stops speaking. His mother Zehra, who works on a tea plantation, suffers a great deal on account of her son’s sudden loss of speech, but is unable to persuade him to speak.
The days pass – and still Yakup does not return. Mother and son begin to worry. Yusuf goes to his grandmother’s place in a neighbouring village where he spends the magical night during which the prophet’s arrival is celebrated. When he hears the story of the prophet he is convinced that his father, with whom he identifies the holy man, will come home again.
Yusuf and his mother set off on a fruitless search for signs of his father’s whereabouts after which Yusuf decides to continue the search for his father on his own. His is a journey into the unknown. Will the dream he had become reality?



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Franswa Sharl (Australia)

Twelve-year-old Greg is just as ambitious as his father. During a family holiday on the Fijian Islands the two have different ideas about which one of his many talents Greg should concentrate on. When Greg’s creative pursuits fail to amuse his father, Greg sets out to win him back. Greg’s story is based on real events.

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Por tu culpa [It's Your Fault] (Argentina)

Life is far from easy for Julieta. She lives alone with her children in a tiny apartment, has very little money and struggles to lead a normal life, which is virtually impossible given these conditions. But she’s always trying. Julieta does her best, but, in doing so often asks too much of herself and her two boys. During the week the children are with a babysitter who looks after them as best she can, because Julieta doesn’t have the money to pay for this. Sometimes, the children’s father comes over to take care of them, but this is rare and Julieta certainly can’t rely on his help.
It’s Sunday evening and the boys’ father hasn’t picked up his sons Valentín and Teo as agreed. Julieta has to work and is sitting in front of the computer. It’s way past bedtime and the arguments in the children’s room are getting more aggressive. Julieta can’t afford to listen and just doesn’t want to know what the boys are up to. She has to concentrate. But then she hears a loud bang. Teo begins to cry. What’s happened? Teo is unable to express himself and Valentín remains resolutely silent. The three of them go to hospital to have Teo examined. They have to wait for ages at the accident and emergency unit and are exhausted by the time it’s their turn. Teo’s brother is the only one who can explain what happened, but, dog-tired, angry with himself, irritated by the long wait and his mother, his answers are curt. A single mother of two boys, one of whom is badly hurt – to the doctor Teo’s injuries are more than just the result of an accident.

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Thanks for all the write-ups of these films many of which sound interesting but I wonder just how many we will ever be able to see? They might cometo a local 'art' cinema or possibly available on DVD.
Who is the Australian stunner in 'Franswa Sharl'? Got to go and see what 12 year old Greg gets up to on that Fijian island!
Talking about Mexican boy films there is one I have the DVD of that isn't listed on BA and neither is the actor. Oh dear! 'La Mugrosita' made in 1980 and starring a boy actor/singer called Pedrito Fernandez. He leads one gang of kids fighting another gang which ends up with a boxing match between the two leaders. Fernandez plays 12/13 year old Andres who lives with his grandfather in an old railway goods van. Unfortunately, the DVD I have is in Spanish with no subtitles so I'm not too sure of all the plot's ins and outs. Suffice to say it is an engaging film of a boy who is removed from his grandfather by the authorities and how Andres becomes reunited with the old man again. In between, Fernandez bursts into some fairly pleasant Mexican songs that he sings to his young girlfriend, Maria.
Anybody seen this film and, if so, how come BA has missed it entirely?

This thread needs some updating.

The following are films of possible interest I have stumbled across recently.

Dear Lemon Lima (USA)

As sweet and colorful as a snow cone, this delightful happy-sad confection follows an awkward Alaskan teen as she discovers her Eskimo heritage while rallying her fellow misfits to compete in her school's Snowstorm Survivor competition.

I've seen this one already and although it is primarily a girl movie, Zane Huett's performance was very good and well worth seeing. The film itself is very quirky. I suspect opinions on it will be rather polarizing.

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Love Does Grow on Trees (UK)

At the end of the 1980s, every healthy teenage boy was only interested in girls and porn magazines. But together, these two form a dangerous cocktail, so it's a mixed pleasure when the adolescent Danny literally gets bombarded with the colourful magazines.

Stars Quantum favorite Luke Ward-Wilkinson!

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Päev, Mil Ma Kasvasin [The Day I Grew Up] (Estonia)

In 'The Day I Grew Up', a boy struggles with grief after losing his mother, but finds comfort in a magical book given to him by an old bookseller.

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Sangen [The Song] (Denmark)

There is nothing worse than when ones parents argue, and in 'The Song', 9-year-old Sebastian takes matters into his own hands to create a family idyl.

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Huset overfor (Denmark)

In 'Huset Overfor', two boys challenge each other to going on an exploration of the eerie house on the other side of the road, where they are met with a series of chilling surprises.

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Thanks for the update, Zab. Of course, anyone who knows my tastes will know that this one is the movie I would check out first:
Päev, Mil Ma Kasvasin [The Day I Grew Up] (Estonia)

Smrt krásných srnců [Death of the Beautiful Deer] (Czechoslovakia 1986)

Ota Pavel's world is made up of the simple truths of life, real people, and a nature that man must understand in order to understand their depth and vastness. It was this particular atmosphere that the director Kachyňa was mainly trying to depict. He had to presume a lot when telling the life of the Popper family before the war. The film captures the escapades of the father, Leo, who works as an Electrolux salesman, and also spends wonderful moments on the banks of the Berounka River at the cottage of Prošek the ferryman. The father's swaggering changes under the pressure of the times. But his vitality completely returns during the occupation when he, nearly right in front of Germans, removes all the fish from his former pond and risks his life to procure some venison so that his two children have a chance to survive the concentration camp.
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It's already profiled here, but I had to include it so I could share this publicity still of Tomás Holý!
Some day I hope that his work will be subbed in English so that I can watch his films.

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Tony, tobě přeskočilo [A Child for Tony] (Czechoslovakia 1968)

A comedy about a simple person that takes in four abandoned siblings from an orphanage. Eight-year-old Prášílek is alone after a car accident. So that he doesn't have to return to the orphanage, he stays with his uncle Tony. A well-preserved widow seems a bit dangerous for them. Now and then she brings some cakes and irons the laundry. To face such pressure they need allies. Prášílek has three more siblings in various orphanages. Tony gets convinced to take in someone who can repair things. But along with nine-year-old Joska comes a social worker and deadline of 10 days to improve conditions. They need a woman's touch to take care of tidiness. Tony doesn't realize that Anička is only six until after her arrival. When thirteen-year-old Růžena eventually runs away to him, Tony is truly happy - after all, she knows how to clean and cook.

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