Taken - Children of the State (2022)

Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story

Father Edward J. Flanagan is a familiar name to many Americans, often for the Oscar-winning 1938 film starring Spencer Tracy about Flanagan’s groundbreaking child welfare organization. But the story extends far beyond that, to a man whose name and legacy are still well-known as far as Germany and Japan. Flanagan gained influence and admiration over the course of his life from Presidents, CEOs, celebrities and more, but none mattered more to him than that of the children for whom he tirelessly worked. A sobering reminder of this was during WWII, as Flanagan saw droves of former Boys Town citizens go off to war. In fact, so many former Boys Town boys named Flanagan as their next of kin that the American War Dads Association named him as America’s No. 1 War Dad.

Blush: An Extraordinary Voyage

For 18-year-old Finnish–Kosovan Fatu, a simple visit to the grocery store feels as nerve-racking as a lunar expedition: for the first time in his life, he’s wearing makeup in public. Luckily his best friend Rai, a young woman on the spectrum of autism, is there to ferociously support him through the voyage.

Generation C

Due to the measures taken by the government, students have fewer and fewer prospects for a meaningful future. Life is on pause and society is kept in fear. The confidence in a bright future is gone. Even after 18 months, there is still no light at the end of the tunnel. The many promises have not yet changed this situation. In this moving documentary, young people give an idea of the impact of the measures on their lives. Is there still hope or has the damage already been done?

I Know a Place

Young people who decide to leave their home to seek opportunities for the future face different difficulties on a daily basis. The inevitable estrangement with family and lifelong friends. The constant lack of understanding, the coldness and individualism of the new city. The stress and even the feeling of being a stranger back home. This journey to the future sets out issues about identity, nostalgia and courage, while they fight to find their place in a changeable world.

Maël et la révolution

Maël is a passionate gardener and an environmental activist. Away from big cities, sharing is time between his agricultural college, his contract of apprenticeship, and his beloved vegetable garden, Maël grows up with deep-rooted alter-globalist beliefs.

Valldaura: A Quarantine Cabin

A group of young architects, confined to a forest in Barcelona during the COVID crisis, explore the problems generated by the ambition of wanting to be completely self-sufficient.

A Life Like Any Other

Over many years, the director’s father filmed his family life almost obsessively. His daughter’s birth, his son’s first steps, and always Valérie, the young mother. An impressive fund of material which their now grown-up daughter Faustine appropriates to tell quite a different story: that of a woman who sees her role as a mother and its demands take away her freedom step by step.

Teekay The Salto King

Rapper and breakdancer Teekay from Eindhoven is known for his somersaults and vlogs that are causing a stir. During the corona riots in 2021, he not only gained national fame as a vlog reporter, but also ended up briefly in jail. After his junior year, Teekay wants to change course and, above all, be an example for other young people. In the film he takes us into his life and talks about his childhood in foster homes, the mistakes he made and about his dreams. What is Teekay looking for?

Comme une feuille au vent, Jasmin

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Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever

In this documentary, wealthy entrepreneur Bryan Johnson puts his body and fortune on the line to defy aging and extend his life beyond all known limits.

La Brigada – A Mural for the Unidad Popular in Dresden

During the 16th Workers' Festival in Dresden in 1976, a student group of Chilean emigrants paints a mural symbolically depicting the activity of the Unidad Popular during Salvador Allende's reign. Festival guests comment on this work. Music by Chilean music group Jaspampa, formed in Leipzig in 1972.

Eden Alone Surpasses Thee

Jarred by the loss of his closest friend, a farmer on Tasmania’s remote West Coast, begins to mentor at-risk local youth. In an area renowned for its poverty, low literacy, and high suicide rates, Stafford Heres is determined to provide opportunities for kids who have few. Eden Alone Surpasses Thee explores his relationship with the land, loss, and the young men he takes under his wing.

Reach for the SKY

Can one day shape the rest of your life? A feature documentary on the South-Korean education system.

Plató

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Heaven Can't Wait

The moving story of Carlo Acutis, a young British-Italian amateur computer programmer who died in 2006, aged 15, as a result of leukemia. However, even though he is no longer here, to this day Carlo continues to be a great symbol of strength among young people. The documentary brings together a series of reports from people who entrusted themselves to the intercession of the boy, beatified by the Catholic Church in 2020, and had their lives transformed.

Vivants

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Life Ahead of Her

La vie devant elle is the diary of the exile of Elaha, a 14 year old Afghan girl, who films herself with a small camera to tell her story. Through her story, the film portrays the reality of children growing up on the road, tossed from place to place to flee conflicts in the hope of finding a normal life.

things that won't die

After finding some videos she uploaded to YouTube when she was a child, Manuela attempts to follow the trail she herself has left on the Internet. A search that looks into all that things that won't never die and that, especially, thinks about the way we look at ourselves.

Domy + Ailucha: Ket Stuff!

In 2020, unable to travel, Ico Costa left a small camera with Ailucha and Domy, two young Mozambicans from the city of Inhambane, and asked them to film their daily lives. The result: working, playing, walking, hanging around, smoking, listening to music, singing, dancing, feeling desire – being teenagers.

Shâd Bâsh

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Karam Camera

Two Syrian refugee girls document each others' attempts at making their first films.

Who Was Dcx 64?

A short film about a youtuber who nobody knew or watched.

Rural Youth

This film, with an autobiographical flavor, was shot in part on the very premises where Father Proulx grew up and highlights the importance of agriculture and the very special attention given to rural youth in the from the Government of Quebec. The farm and its little world are presented during the four seasons: the introduction of children to agricultural work, the holidays, the return to school. From November to the end of April, the older ones take courses in the various agricultural schools scattered across Quebec. In addition to studying the methods of cultivation and breeding, they receive notions of carpentry, blacksmithing and other lessons likely to be useful in their future work as farmers. In the spring, the young girls go to secondary schools of agriculture to learn domestic art, beekeeping, weaving, sewing, etc.

Madiakho m'a dit

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Epifania

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Spring

Love transcends time and people.

Jugend-Zeit

The documentary tells the story of Anke, Birgit and Katrin, who are training to become cattle breeders and graduate from high school. During this time, they live in a boarding school. The three girls talk about their everyday lives and reflect on their future.

Soft

Three adolescent boys become captivated by the queer nightlife over summer break, but a missing person pulls them back into the reality they tried to leave behind.

Let's Go, Jets!

Female students, including Hikari Tomonaga, from a high school cheerdance club follow strict instructions from their teacher Kaoruko Saotome. They compete at the USA Cheerdance Championship.

Pretty Young Thing

It’s a new school year and at Rosenholm High School there are many initiation rituals that the new first-year students must go through, which are of great importance for their future life in high school, not least for their personal life. Best friends and freshmen Frida and Selma quickly become friends with another first-year student Nadja. When Frida catches feelings for Nadja’s older boyfriend Emil and is invited to the ritual party for first-year students but Selma is not, their friendship starts to fall apart.

When Death Comes

The strong fight between two brothers ends with the life of one of them. The eldest will drag the guilt of eternal mourning and emptiness, in addition to the burden of having condemned their parents to the pain of a silent mourning.

Home Cooking

Selma keens to make a pizza for her father's birthday with her mother and younger brother. Had her father been there, it would be the family time.

Wasted Talent

Four high school teens are thrown into detention after a fight come together of their love for music and songwriting. However, their newfound bond is brought to a halt by the harsh reality of the world they come from.

Spider Baby

In a dilapidated rural mansion, the last generation of the degenerate, inbred Merrye family lives with the inherited curse of a disease that causes them to mentally regress from the age of 10 or so on as they physically develop. The family chauffeur looks out for them and covers up their indiscretions. Trouble comes when greedy distant relatives and their lawyer arrive to dispossess the family of its home.

Someday or One Day

In 2009, 28-year-old Li Zi Wei and 17-year-old Huang Yu Xuan met each other. These are two innocent and unaffected lives that could each feel like marks from their past and present lives. However, they could not find sufficient proof to fill up the emptiness at the bottom of their hearts. An accident let them fall into another Mobius loop that had already happened countless times. Only then did they realize that in different times and spaces, they once had a deep, true love that had passed through countless timelines to search for each other with no regrets. But in that story, their deepest love came at the highest price. If they could start again, would they choose to meet by chance in ordinary life or be scarred by the memories etched in their heart and bones? Or perhaps they can choose to hurt and love all over again, betting on a different ending?

STAR DRIVER: The Movie

In the remote Southern Cross Island, a secret organization named The Glittering Crux plans to reactivate giant machines that have been sealed for ages. Known as Cybodies, they can only be controlled by pilots identified as Star Drivers. To unleash their full power, the mysterious group must break the seals of the four shrine maidens that reside in the isle. Recently arrived outsider Takuto Tsunashi vows to stop the Glittering Crux in order to protect Wako Agemaki, the girl who saved his life and is one of the four maidens. Wako is a lively young lady who has already been betrothed to Sugata Shindou, a rich and talented childhood friend. Despite being very close to Agemaki, Sugata quietly disapproves of this engagement since it was forced on them due to a family tradition. The melancholic couple becomes a radiant trio as Takuto becomes not only their friend but protector of the seals since he is none other than the Galactic Pretty Boy, gifted Star Driver of Tauburn, the 22nd Cybody.

Just for the Hell of It

A teenage gang led by the vicious Dexter, with his girlfriend Bitsy and friends Denny and Lummox, creates havoc in a small Florida town by harassing various people and vandalizing property... just for the hell of it. When a former gang member, Doug, tries to prevent their ever increasing violent antics, Denny takes it upon himself and a few loyal members of the gang to target Doug's girlfriend, Jeanne, to make him back off.

Go Away, Ultramarine

An island in Japan is the site for the dumped and the refuse. Nanakusa and Yu who were childhood and school friends meet on this island that is called Kaiden, a scary name that only refers to things not normal or earthly. The reunited friends strike a bargain and are soon involved in cases most would not dare be involved in or become entangled in.

Wild Youth

Wild Youth is an ode to being young. A sensitive and intimate story of the first experiences of losing one's childlike innocence, questioning the imposed "masculinity" and (re)discovering yourself in the function of others.

Midsummer

It is the last day of school for Christian and his younger sister Sophie. They are heading to a party at his friend Trina. High school graduation is just around the corner and after the freedom and future. But behind the idyllic facade lurks tragedy and secrets. That evening Sophie commits suicide.

Cocoon

China, 1997. An unhappy marriage, a love affair and a child who holds all the secrets.