I Am Kalam (India)

Chhotu is an inventive and poor child who in order to support his family works in a food stall during the day and spends his evenings reading books he has gathered. He dreams of getting an education and commanding his destiny. One day he encounters the local prince. The pauper is captivated at the sight of the crisp prince’s tie, while the prince is mesmerized by the camel the pauper has tamed. A friendship is struck between the two which defies class barriers. One day, upon hearing a speech from Abdul Kalam, the former President of India, Chhotu vows to change his future. Just like him, Kalam suffered hardships as a child but through his determination mapped his own course. From that day the lad drops the name Chhotu, used to identify labouring boys across India, and adopts the alias Kalam. Like the former President, he pledges to become a hero. He is aided by his friend prince Ranvijay.

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Karla og Jonas (Denmark)

Karla is in love with Jonas, but doesn’t dare to contact him. Her best friend pushes Karla to call him, which results in an invitation to visit him at the orphanage he lives in. Life is hard when there is no family at all, and Karla, who is crazy about Jonas, tries to comfort him by suggesting looking for his biological mom. They take matters into own hands, and steal Jonas’ birth certificate from the principal’s drawer. With no money to pay the ticket they jump the train headed for the city where Jonas was born. They cross a grumpy taxi driver, a dubious gang of homeless people, and some strange ladies who share their name with Jonas’ mother. The mission seems hopeless, but they may have hit the mark, when they find a beautiful blond hairdresser.

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Kinjirareta Koi no Melody [Snow Prince] (Japan)

Present-day, Tokyo. An old gentleman leaves a manuscript to Sayo Arima, a woman living quietly through her twilight years. In it is spelled out a story that only Sayo knows. The early 1930s, in a cold wintry village. Sota, a　boy without parents lives with his poor grandfather Seikichi and his Akita dog, Chibi. Sota cannot even afford to go to school but he has a big talent in drawing. Sayo comes from a wealthy family, but they have been friends since they were very small. Sayo’s father, however, is not pleased that they are such good friends. One day Sota and Sayo sneak into a touring circus that has set up in the town and encounter a clown, Hagio, a man who surprisingly seems to be able to read Sota’s mind and encourages him in his desire to become a painter. Sota manages to buy paper and tries to complete a picture to give to Sayo as a present.

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Vorstadtkrokodile 2 (Germany)

Summer vacation, the first tender stirrings of romance and new gang headquarters: life could be perfect for the Crocodiles, were there not strange goings-on in the plant where Olli and Maria’s parents work. The factory is facing lay-offs and maybe even closure, meaning their parents may lose their jobs, even their home. That would spell the end of the Crocodiles: if Olli and Maria have to move, there would be no gang left for Hannes, Kai, Jorgo, Frank and Peter, either! So the Crocodiles would do anything to get to the bottom of the mysterious series of accidents at the plant, including hair-raising stunts and chases, secretive sleuthing, and even going so far as to get a makeover from Kai’s annoying big-city cousin Jenny, so they can go undercover at the hippest nightclub in town. The Crocodiles put the pedal to the metal and race full speed ahead, on bikes and souped-up wheelchairs, into their next adventure!


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Minnie Loves Junior (Australia)

Minnie, 10, lives in an aboriginal fishing village. Junior, 10, lives there too. Little does he realise Minnie’s unrequested love will soon save his life.

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Min pappa av papp [My Cardboard Dad] (Norway)

Glenn has fallen in love with his colleague, Karen. After a long period of dating, time has come for Glenn to meet Karen's seven-year-old son, Nils. What Glenn does not know is that Nils has a dad made out of cardboard, specifically Superman in full-size.

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Thanks for the update. I'd love to know where most of these festival movies disappear to. It surprises me in this age of broadband that films like these are not more easily available to download. It's sad that we don't get to see most of them.

These were found at this year's Karlovy Vary fest.

Ostavljeni [The Abandoned] (Bosnia)

Thirteen-year-old Alen is growing up in an orphanage in Sarajevo. He dreams of finding his mother, a French war correspondent during the unrest in Yugoslavia – at least that’s what a compassionate carer at the institute claims. Alen and some of the other wards make a little extra money stealing for a local tradesman named Sento. But the situation comes to a head when the new director uncovers Sento’s practices. As a reward for services rendered, Alen wants Sento to get hold of his personal file because it includes his mother’s address. In the end he discovers that the truth is quite different from what he expected. Even in Alen’s comparatively short life, things have happened that should not have.... Director Adis Bakrač unfolds the drama of a boy looking for love in a hostile world, wondering what chance a child has, born under tragic circumstances and growing up without parental care among the shadows of the past.

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Familia (Sweden)

The main characters of Mikael Wiström and Alberto Herskovits’s documentary are the members of a poor Peruvian family. Even though they no longer have to live in a temporary wooden dwelling right next to the dump, and father Daniel goes out to work every day to earn a living on his mototaxi, there still isn’t enough money to pay for a quality school for their eight-year-old boy. That’s why 55-year-old mother Naty decides to leave for Spain to find work, thereby ensuring a better future for her family. A film of high sensitivity, it develops the double plot line of Naty’s lonely life in unknown surroundings as a hotel maid and the life of the family she left behind. The filmmakers succeeded in thoroughly drawing out the individual family members, and the result is an unostentatious portrait which convincingly depicts the full range of their emotions. Subtle music and outstanding camerawork add to the film’s emotional power, as do aptly incorporated black-and-white snapshots from their family album. The film took Best Swedish Documentary at this year’s Göteborg IFF.

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Infinite Memory (Spain)

We all have memories. But how far back do they go?

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Kuky se vrací [Kooky] (Czech Republic)

Young Ondra has asthma and so his mom throws away his favorite toy: a musty old stuffed bear named Kooky. That night Ondra dreams that Kooky is determined to find his way back home from the dump. In the boy’s fantasy, the bear gets lost in a forest occupied by strange animals and remarkable beings that he never heard of while living on the toy shelf in Ondra’s room. And of course even in this small imaginary world, true Good exists as does real Evil, which Kooky must face up to in order to become a real hero.... In an era of impressive CGI animation that can simulate the natural world, Jan Svěrák (director of the Oscar-winning film Kolya) has returned to simplicity: similar to his short film Oil Gobblers, awarded a student Oscar in 1988, he combines handheld puppets with a real environment, primarily nature. This visually original story thus not only takes a look at the pitfalls of the “ecological” balance with the human world, but also humorously comments on the current state of film language.


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Screening in Toronto

Green Crayons (Canada)

Boys will be boys, or so the saying goes. Director Kazik Radwanski has defined and refined his cinematic voice by consistently capturing those seemingly insignificant moments that shift us between major phases of life. In his most recent short, he narrows his lens on Xavier and Liam, two second-grade boys who are moulded by their actions and moralistic educators.

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Let Me In (USA)

Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) stars as Abby, a mysterious 12-year old girl, who moves next door to Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road), a social outcast who is viciously bullied at school. As a string of grisly murders occupy the town, Owen has to confront the reality that this seemingly innocent girl is really a savage vampire. Let Me In is based on the best-selling Swedish novel Lat den Ratte Komma (Let The Right One In), and the highly-acclaimed film of the same name.

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Les fleurs de l'âge [Little Flowers]  (Canada)

Selling ice cream, smoking pot, falling in love, wrangling with family: it’s just another summer day for a regular group of school kids. The boredom, excitement and transformative moments that define the months free from routine are explored with energy and insight. Biron draws his young characters with heart and humour and finds beauty in the daily rigamarole.

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At the 2010 BUSTER

Les mains en L’air [Hands Up] (France)

In 2067, Milana is remembering an event in her childhood, when she - faced with a case of social injustice - decides to fight back. In France, illegal immigrants are regularly deported. Grownups hold speeches and protest, but the deportations continue, and the people whose papers aren’t in order are extremely worried. Milana is attending fifth grade at school and she originally comes from Chechnya.
When her friend Youssef and his family are deported, she is scared that she’ll be next. Together with her friends Alice, Claudio, Blaise and Ali, she hatches a plan that needs to be kept secret from the grownups at all costs. As long as they don’t say anything, they can stick together and never be found. ‘Hands Up’ is an intense French children’s drama with a relevant social message.

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Just screened at Pusan this year

Sampaguita, National Flower (Philippines)

Anyone who has visited the Philippines knows the street-children who besiege motorists, taxi passengers and pedestrians with requests to buy small garlands of scented sampaguita flowers. Sociologically, the kids are a symptom of endemic poverty and the lack of social services and welfare provision. They’re also victims of a system which professes to revere education and teaches them to pray for blessings and salvation from on high. Francis X Pasion’s plangent docu-drama takes the human view. Special Jury Prize-winner in the Cinemalaya Festival, the country’s major forum for indies, it offers both a sardonic commentary on the forces which trap children in poverty and a moving engagement with the kids themselves. Pasion began by interviewing street-kids on-camera (we see fragments of these interviews throughout) and then invited a dozen girls and boys to re-enact episodes they’d described. These include harvesting the flowers by night in Pampanga, dealing with ailing or abusive parents, and coping with the pressures of life on the streets of Quiapo – pressures which push some of the boys, in particular, into child prostitution.

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Héroes [Forever Young] (Spain)

Narration plays over an a photo of five children which awakens the preciousness of childhood. The scene changes to a busy man driving to an important appointment. While driving, he pulls over to pick up a female backpacker. While talking with the lady, he breaks the appointment. With this chance encounter, he looks back on his hectic and routine life.
The film talks about the life of an adult losing innocence. Audiences will be inspired to ruminate on the meaning of life. The film recalls memories of childhood games, memories from summer vacation, friendship and puppy love that we eventually forget in adulthood. The line from the film ‘Only children believe in magic.’ let audiences reflect upon themselves as being cold-hearted in a dry modern society and reminds them of the most marvelous and truthful moments of their lives. The director builds a plot with the perspectives of a child and an adult at the same time which effectively shows the problem that the director wishes to talk about in the film.

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Dooman River  (South Korea)

The film depicts the life of Korean-Chinese people living on the Dooman River. When hearing the news that people have died on the frozen Dooman River, the film compares the keen response of elderly men with the insensitive reaction of the children. Children and Chang-ho meet Jung-jin who comes from North Korea and asks of food. They promise to Jung-jin that they will bring some food, and suggest playing a soccer game.
The most interesting scene of the film is that Chang-ho plays a soccer game with kids after the other children from North Korea have left. The innocent intimacy among children not considering ideology and political relationship contrasts with the weight of reality the adult bears. Most of the parents of the Korean-Chinese kids left for Korea to work and people who cross the border are not welcomed in the town where only elderly people and children live. With the barren landscape of the ‘Dooman River’, this film portrays the reality over the friendship between Chang-ho and Jung-jin from North Korea.

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Baan Chan ... Talok Wai Gon (Por Son Wai) [The Little Comedian]  (Thailand)

Inheriting the name of legendary Thai comedian, Tock is the heir of the third generation comedian family. However, he is born with tragic fate that he is not funny and he has to yield his position at the comedy troop to his sister. Yet, there comes a beautiful dermatologist who laughs at his jokes. Now, Tock wants to reborn as a great comedian to have her heart.
The Little Comedian is a typical growing-up film. Questioning his identity, conflict with family and the unrequited first love are all in the same pot. Yet, Tock is not the only one who needs to grow-up. Losing its space due to the social change, the traditional Thai comedy performing culture should endure the pain of growing-up. Also the dermatologist needs to overcome the sorrowful love affair. Realizing the pain of his father and his beloved doctor, Tock steps into the adulthood. This delightful film reminds that the growing-up after all is not achieved by oneself but by understanding and loving each other.

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Moving on to Tokyo...

Hadikduk HaPnimi [Intimate Grammar]  (Israel)

In Israel in early 1960s, a new generation is growing up: the militant Israeli, generation that will not go through another Holocaust. But Hinda's sensitive son, Aharon doesn't fit the mold. His soul seeks refinement, art – which he can't find at home. How could he? For his father, a Holocaust survivor, human existence is reduced to war and survival. Aharon refuses to become like his parents. During three years he does not grow an inch, until he realizes he is partly responsible for this, and so he embarks on a dangerous inner journey: to cross the boundary dividing childhood and adolescence.

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¡Primaria! (Spain)

In this celebration of children's creativity, Primary! follows the lives of students and their teachers in a peculiar yet somewhat recognizable primary school. When Jose Maria―more apt to give a lecture on Fine Arts at university than a primary classroom―fills a post as art teacher, chaos seems to be on the verge of unleashing itself. However, the path that his infinitely imaginative little students take him through proves there is more than a little he can learn from them, and a new life to discover…

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Yoi ga sametara, uchi ni kaer [Wandering Home] (Japan)

Pledging to "visit my family sober next week," war photographer Yasu guzzles vodka and passes out. Hurrying to his side, manga artist Yuki reassures him, "It's OK, you're not dead yet." The couple married and had two kids, but divorced because of Yasu's alcohol dependency. Exhausted by the cycle of drunken violence and illness, Yasu reluctantly enters a rehab hospital. There he finds unexpected solace among the quirky medical staff and eccentric fellow patients. Supported by his family's love and Yuki's determination to face reality, Yasu steadily recovers, but another disease lurks within...

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Winter's Bone (USA)

Seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly embarks on a mission to find her father after he uses their family house as a way of securing his bail and disappears without a trace. Faced with the possibility of losing her home and being turned out into the Ozark woods, Ree challenges her outlaw kin's code of silence and risks her life to save her family. She hacks through the lies, evasions and threats offered by her relatives, and begins to piece together the truth.

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