Growing Pains (2024)

Unclenching the Fists

In a former mining town in North Ossetia, a young woman struggles to escape the stifling hold of the family she loves as much as she rejects.

The Boys Are Back

When the wife of sports-writer Joe Warr dies of cancer, he takes on the responsibility of raising their 6-year-old son, and his teenage son from a previous marriage. As Joe rejects the counsel of his mother-in-law and other parents, he develops his own philosophies on parenting.

Lessons in Red

When a junior high student in 1963 suspects his teacher of being a communist, he investigates the truth to gain approval from his father.

Caro diario

Nanni Moretti recalls in his diary three slice of life stories characterized by a sharply ironic look: in the first one he wanders through a deserted Rome, in the second he visits a reclusive friend on an island, and in the last he has to grapple with an unknown illness.

The Defendant

Silvia, a single mother and a lawyer, is implicated in a corruption scandal. But in addition to trouble at work, she is also facing a more crippling problem: her mother’s cancer has returned. While she is forced to face up to her mother’s inconceivable yet inescapable death, Silvia embarks on a love story, her first in many years.

The Male Gaze: First Kiss

The Male Gaze is a new series of releases from New Queer Visions that showcases short LGBTQ films from across the world. The first instalment, First Kiss, brings together five shorts that are based around men experiencing romantic and/or sexual interaction with other men for the first time. It takes in films from Sweden, Indonesia, USA, Australia and France giving a rounded look at how similar experiences are depicted across the world. The films are: Naked [Naken] (2013); Pria (2017); Walk With Me (2018), One Night Only (2018); Michel's Mouse [Tapette] (2016).

Pashi

When his mom’s handsome friend unexpectedly shows up in the village, Ashish, a teenage boy living in a remote area of Himachal Pradesh, is swept in a whirlwind of desire and vivid fantasy. As he struggles to rein in his strong impulses, he learns about “pashi”, an ancient technique of trapping birds, and begins to practice it.

Portrait of Four Beauties

Four sisters, each with their different characters, embark on their separate roads to romance. Elder sister has vast experience of romance; second sister is predisposed to vampiness and wantonness; third sister is righteous and of noble character; fourth sister is just reaching puberty and experiencing the pangs of first love. Being sentimental, flirtatious and amorous, the four sisters form a backdrop conducive to songs and tripping the light fantastic.

New Queer Visions: The Last Days of Innocence

When adulthood looms, naivety fades, and a whole new, strange world opens up. These four beguiling European stories, from acclaimed film festivals the world over, explore these years of youthful wonder with a deftness and artistry that lingers. The short films are: Ruins [Ruines] (2019); Aline (2019); Snake [Змија] (2020); The Touching [Dotýkání] (2020).

The Playground

After years of traveling, Anyas parents have decided to return from Australia to their native France, and she has to attend a public school for the first time in her life. But normal everyday school life quickly causes problems for the girl. On the first day, she gets a shot with a soccer ball on the head. When no one wants to apologize for this, a violent argument immediately ensues. So she messed it up with the locals right from the start. Anya becomes an outsider, which doesn't even really bother her. But Zoé, Nils and Jade, who are also a bit different, take care of her. A new clique is formed. But the pretty outsider would prefer to be friends with Nathan, the school director's son. But he gives her the cold shoulder because it wouldn't be cool to be interested in girls in front of his buddies. Meanwhile, the girls hatch a plan to win their place in the schoolyard. A real fight ensues between the students. Now it's girls against boys. But how far can a dispute between children go?

Lys

Teenage girl Lys is discovered inside the reactor of the newly build TERRA Power Plant and finds she is developing special powers that connect her to the energy of all living things.

Tits

After an argument, best friends Jasmine and Iben loose the sight of each other at the beach. Jasmine meets up with the girls. Iben hooks up with Jonas, the boy she is crazy about. Later on, the seemingly shy boy Oscar has an unpleasant run in with Iben. When both of them are left behind by their friends, one of them makes a friendly gesture and they soon realise that they are dealing with similar issues. The summer night doesn’t turn out like they had expected but leads to an experience that might be the beginning of an unexpected relationship.

Carlito Leaves Forever

In the Amazonian jungle, the village of Palma Real resists the modern world. Carlito, a silent young man, decides to leave. On the muddy bed of the immense river, an encounter reveals the secret that Carlito has hidden from his community.

Sin & Illy still alive

Sin and Illy have a plan: on a Greek island they want to get 'clean' on their own. But the intention of the two girls fails already on the way to the airport. Finally Sin realizes she has to go the way out of heroin addiction all alone.

Persepolis

In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.

Quadrophenia

Based on the 1973 rock opera album of the same name by The Who, this is the story of 60s teenager Jimmy. At work he slaves in a dead-end job. While after, he shops for tailored suits and rides his scooter as part of the London Mod scene.

Out of My Comfort Zone

Middle school, New York City. Everyone's got a secret. Josh and Rachel have been best friends since second grade, but their relationship is about to change. The Viper has an online blog dedicated to exposing people's innermost secrets and he's just found out the whopper of them all.

Driveways

Eight-year-old Cody is spending the summer in an unfamiliar setting with his mom Kathy. Though he can't relate to the neighbourhood kids, things take an unexpected turn when he develops an unusual friendship with grouchy old Del from next door.

The Tender Bar

JR is a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie, is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave the dilapidated home of her outrageous if begrudgingly supportive father — JR begins to gamely, if not always gracefully, pursue his romantic and professional dreams, with one foot persistently placed in Uncle Charlie’s bar.

Dazed and Confused

The adventures of a group of Texas teens on their last day of school in 1976, centering on student Randall Floyd, who moves easily among stoners, jocks and geeks. Floyd is a star athlete, but he also likes smoking weed, which presents a conundrum when his football coach demands he sign a "no drugs" pledge.

Clueless

Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother was right about how misguided she was -- and falls for him.

Risky Business

Meet Joel Goodson, an industrious, college-bound 17-year-old and a responsible, trustworthy son. However, when his parents go away and leave him home alone in the wealthy Chicago suburbs with the Porsche at his disposal he quickly decides he has been good for too long and it is time to enjoy himself. After an unfortunate incident with the Porsche Joel must raise some cash, in a risky way.

Crazy

Benjamin, a 16-year-old with lousy grades, switches to a boarding school in order to eventually reach grammar school. Adjusting to his new environment is difficult as he has to struggle with being a teen... specially when he falls in love to the school's dream girl, Malen.

Break any spell

In this powerful story, a teenage girl escapes reality through live action role-playing when her mother is suffering an illness, which will soon reach a breaking point. It was written by siblings Lisi Purr and Anton Jøsef. They were inspired by their mother’s stories from when she was a support worker.

São Bernoia

São Bernardo do Campo, late 1970s. A man recalls his youth in the context of workers' strikes, the beginning of skateboarding in Brazil and the peak of rock n' roll, when his group of friends decide to film an afternoon in their life, in Super -8.

a little woman

A bloodstain on a sheet triggers a great transformation in Tina, an eleven-year-old girl. As she spreads out the laundry with her mother, she will have to silently face all those unknown feelings she thought would never come.

Naangal

It's the 1990s, in a sleepy hillside town in Southern India there is a cavernous mansion surrounded by plantations, inside three preadolescent brothers live with their German shepherd. They buy the groceries, lug water up the slopes in plastic cans, get each other ready for school and lend a hand to workers on the estate. The boys may practically run the house, but the lord of this forsaken domain is their father, a ruthless martinet whose mere sight frightens them to the core.

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52 Tuesdays

Sixteen-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans for gender transition, and their time together becomes limited to Tuesdays. This emotionally charged story of desire, responsibility, and transformation was filmed over the course of a year—once a week, every week, only on Tuesdays.

Monster

After losing his innocence, his best friend, and the love of his adolescence, this coming-of-age gangster drama follows Harman in an hour of his night within a new life of violence.

Cherry Blossoms

After finding out that her husband, Rudi, has a fatal illness, Trudi Angermeier arranges a trip to Berlin so they can see their children. Of course, the kids don't know the real reason they're visiting -- and the catch is, neither does Rudi...

Southeasterlies

Two mismatched friends, students, each in their own way troubled by life, travel one day to a nearby beach, invoking a sort of playful innocence long believed spent along with their childhoods, in the hopes that doing so will restore both of their happiness. Alas, life seldom works out that way.

Mr. Misunderstood

When overwhelming expectations tower over him, Cecil must silence the doubt controlling him, while an aspiring film career slowly becomes the least of his worries. Written and directed by newcomer Aaron Fisher, Mr. Misunderstood takes a close look at the endless pressures that loom over one aspiring filmmaker's life, as he conveys the beautiful imperfection of our most human characteristics.

The Breakfast Club

Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.

Light of Day

Cleveland siblings rise with a rock band while coping with personal problems.

Nobody is Crazy

Rafa is a lonely teenager with OCD and his overwhelmed mother insists on giving him professional help or he will end up in a military school. Faced with the situation, he agrees to visit a self-help group where he meets a somewhat eccentric masked guy who states to be a time traveler. Rafa begins the search to find out if the young guy is who he says he is and came from the past or is simply a mental patient who escaped from an asylum.

April

Set to a vibrant landscape, 'April' follows the emotional up-and-down journey of a full-of-life high school girl, named April (played by Celine Alva), as she navigates change, friendships, and ultimately a decision that could permanently alter her life.

Hedgehog

A headstrong trans teenager is propelled into their hangover when a reckless decision to have sex without a condom triggers an urgent need for the ‘morning after’ pill.

Marisol

For Marisol Rivera, a first generation Mexican-American, college is everything she's worked toward. She spent mornings cleaning horse stalls and evenings studying. Now, with a scholarship in hand, she's ready to leave Southwest Texas and begin her new life. However, when Marisol is falsely accused of a crime, she learns a heartbreaking truth: she's undocumented. Forced to go on the run, Marisol discovers a kind America amidst a harsh bureaucratic system. A coming of age film through the lens of immigration, Marisol critically examines systemic oppression and the causality of racism.

Mahogany

An aspiring designer from the slums of Chicago puts herself through fashion school in the hopes of becoming one of the world's top designers. Her ambition leads her to Rome spurring a choice between the man she loves or her newfound success.

The Way He Looks

Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. To the disappointment of his best friend, Giovana, he plans to go on an exchange program abroad. When Gabriel, a new student in town, arrives at their classroom, new feelings blossom in Leonardo making him question his plans.

Grace

A 1950s Southern teen questions her faith and sexuality on the eve of her baptism when urged to repent her feelings for her best friend.

I Love Anna

Santeri (13) looks on as older guys are driving their motor bikes and wants to be part of their world. He combs his hair and goes to meet his friend Anna (13). At Anna's home childhood's anarchy meets puberty.

White Squall

In 1960, a hardy group of prep school students boards an old-fashioned sailing ship. With Capt. Christopher Sheldon at the helm, the oceangoing voyage is intended to teach the boys fortitude and discipline. But the youthful crew are about to get some unexpected instruction in survival when they get caught in the clutches of a white squall storm.

Mean Girls

Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

Water Lilies

Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool's synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team? Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage sexuality with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.

Heliconia

The feline and weary body of a young girl is surrounded by Christian symbols. Crosses, Sulpician images, miniature altars lose their religious meaning to become merely decorative items. Mixed with plastic toys and photographs, they compose secular still lives. A church service is observed surreptitiously through a ground-floor window, like some strange custom, only to be interrupted by the sound of a moped backfiring, inviting the girl to take flight. This religious setting, often filmed in countershot to the beautiful faces of three teenagers, then gives way to wide shots of the luxuriant nature they are bathed in. Their nimble, young bodies find a perfect refuge in the comfortable branches of a mango tree. But at this age, the thirst for thrills cannot be restricted to a familiar setting. The trio hits the road. Without bothering with narrative dross, Heliconia offers a sensual road-trip and gorgeous tableaux vivants that do justice to film as a medium.

Gasping for Air

When his sister disappears after leaving their home in hopes of singing stardom, Luis tracks her down and discovers the grim reality of her whereabouts.

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging

Georgia Nicolson is fourteen, lives with nosey parents who don't understand her, an annoying three year old sister and has to wear a beret to school. She would, however, rather be blonde, have a smaller nose and a boyfriend. Revolving around her hilarious journal entries, prepare to be engulfed in the world of the soaring joys and bottomless angst of being a teenager.

White Lie

Katie Arneson is faking cancer. A university dance major, Katie's falsified diagnosis and counterfeit fundraising have transformed her into a campus celebrity surrounded by the supportive community she's always dreamed of. But now dependent on a bursary for sick students to maintain her ruse, Katie learns the funding is in jeopardy unless she can provide copies of her medical records within the week.

Children of the Salt

An elderly father and his two children, survive by harvesting salt from the sea. After the father dies, they live alone. Isolated from the outside world they become increasingly distanced, whilst their lust starts to blossom. Their lives get a lot harder. The brutal reality of harvesting sea salt coincides with their blossoming sexuality. Their lives of solitude drive them further apart whilst awakening lust makes itself known.

Middle of Nowhere

The film follows Grace, a young woman whose irresponsible mother blows her college fund on her younger sister's beauty pageant campaign.

The Last Bath

A nun is called upon to adopt her 15-year-old nephew, and as a consequence religious, familial and sensual love become entangled.

Therapy Dogs

A chronicle of the last year of high school as two friends set out to make the ultimate senior video.

SoulMate

The films spans two decades as the story unfolds in a series of flashbacks that begin when Qiyue and Ansheng were just thirteen. The two became inseparable until they met a boy who ended up tearing their lives apart.

Chiquita

Briana has just turned 12 and notices that her friends are starting to like boys, which triggers insecurities about her own personal and bodily development. She is confronted with various situations that make her feel seen by others, after a frank conversation about her insecurities with her older sister, Briana realizes that growing up doesn't mean not being herself.

Here on Earth

Three lives of three young people intersect over the course of one summer. A rich student and a young working-class man accidentally destroy a diner when their impromptu road race takes a disastrous turn. Ordered by a judge to spend the summer repairing the building, they find themselves becoming rivals for the affections of the owner's daughter.

Lucas

A brilliant but socially inept 14-year-old experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends – Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love – fall for each other.

Kes

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence—until tragedy strikes.

The Man Who Loved Yngve

It's November 1989 and the world is changing, so is Jarle who attends Kongsgård HS in Stavanger. He plays the guitar/lead singer in a local radical punkband, got a great girlfriend and has the coolest best friend. But its all about to change when Yngve enters the classroom.

Vijay Superum Pournamiyum

Vijay and Pournami are two very different sort of people who first meet because of a misunderstanding. Vijay is a lazy engineering graduate unwilling to follow his passions and Pournami is an unlucky bold girl who doesn't give up on her dreams. They don't seem to find a lot of things in common at first; but as time passes more avenues open up for them to collaborate and learn from each other.

Sequoia

A young man meets a 23-year-old cancer patient on the way to the park and disrupts her plan to commit suicide.

Worlds Apart

17-year-old Sara leads a sheltered existence with her family, members of Jehovah’s Witnesses, when she meets the outsider Teis and falls in love. Sara, herself a believer, now faces an important turning point in her life as she is forced to choose between religion and love.

Zappa

Denmark, 1961. Bjørn, a middle-class boy in his early teens, wants to be accepted by Steen, a bullying peer of his with wealthy but freezingly cold parents. Bjørn's other good friend is Mulle, a cheerful and more childish working-class boy. All three seem friends at first, but gradually Steen starts pushing Mulle away while pulling the impressionable Bjørn with him towards more and more violence.