An Arrow Held Back (2024)

The Tin Drum

Oskar Matzerath is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes, Oskar is reluctant to enter a world he sees as filled with hypocrisy and injustice, and vows on his third birthday to never grow up. Miraculously, he gets his wish. As the Nazis rise to power in Danzig, Oskar wills himself to remain a child, beating his tin drum incessantly and screaming in protest at the chaos surrounding him.

Billy Elliot

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

Dirty Dancing

Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.

The 400 Blows

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

City of God

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

The Diary of Sisyphus

THE FIRST FEATURE FILM IN THE WORLD WRITTEN BY AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (GPT-NEO) For the first time in the role of screenwriter, an AI narrates the life of Adam, a young university student afflicted by an existential crisis, and his journey towards the meaning of life, between absurd encounters and very human atmospheres.

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.

Paranoid Park

A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".

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.

Say Anything...

Lloyd, an eternal optimist, seeks to capture the heart of Diane, an unattainable high school beauty and straight-A student. He surprises just about everyone-including himself-when she returns the sentiment. But Diane's over-possessive, divorced Dad disapproves and it's going to take more than just the power of love to conquer all.

The Virgin Suicides

A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents.

Ghost World

Two quirky, cynical teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives after high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.

Sauna

An anxious and ungainly teenage boy struggles against bullies, puberty, and his fears of mortality when his parents send him to a summer water polo camp.

Blurred Lines

Janik and Samuel are best friends and enjoy the end of high school. Their worlds are different: Janik has parents who always do everything right, while Samuel comes from a broken home. Samuel wants order, Janik wants chaos. A thoughtless moment puts the close bond between the two friends in jeopardy. As they set off on their long-planned trip to Istanbul, the boys are looking to save their friendship, enjoy their freedom and try out a new life.

Laggies

Overeducated and underemployed, 28 year old Megan is in the throes of a quarterlife crisis. Squarely into adulthood with no career prospects, no particular motivation to think about her future and no one to relate to, Megan is comfortable lagging a few steps behind - while her friends check off milestones and celebrate their new grown-up status. When her high-school sweetheart proposes, Megan panics and- given an unexpected opportunity to escape for a week - hides out in the home of her new friend, 16-year old Annika and Annika's world-weary single dad Craig.

Hold Fast

Two teenage boys escape an unhappy home, embarking on a perilous journey of self-discovery that takes them deep into the Newfoundland wilderness.

Pleasantville

Geeky teenager David and his popular twin sister, Jennifer, get sucked into the black-and-white world of a 1950s TV sitcom called "Pleasantville," and find a world where everything is peachy keen all the time. But when Jennifer's modern attitude disrupts Pleasantville's peaceful but boring routine, she literally brings color into its life.

Love is the Word

Love is the Word is a moving, romantic and funny coming-of-age drama about the magic of first love and the misery of first lost, set in 1978: the year 'Grease' hit the big screen.

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.

Aparajito

Aparajito picks up where the first film leaves off, with Apu and his family having moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Varanasi (then known as Benares). As Apu progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother. This tenderly expressive, often heart-wrenching film, which won three top prizes at the Venice Film Festival, including the Golden Lion, not only extends but also spiritually deepens the tale of Apu. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1996.

American Graffiti

A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

Mickey and the Bear

In Anaconda, Montana, a strong-willed teenage girl navigates a loving but volatile relationship with her veteran father. In a desperate search for independence and her own identity, she risks family, heartbreak, and her standing in the only place she can call home.

Rocks

15-year-old Rocks fears that she and her little brother Emmanuel will be taken into care and forced apart if anyone finds out that their mother has left them. Against all odds, and with the help of her loyal friends, she evades the authorities and navigates the most defining days of her young life.

Daniel

Spooky stuff is afoot in a French school. All of a sudden, 10-year-old Daniel finds himself alone with Marthe – their encounter is both tender and troubling, and it seems to take place in a sort of vacuum. In Marine Atlan’s dream-like feature film debut, children dance tango timelessly, recite poems and do the drill for an imaginary terrorist attack.

My Extraordinary Summer with Tess

As the youngest of the family, Sam is haunted by the notion that someday he could become the last remaining survivor, all alone. On a family vacation at the beach, he meets the unconventional Tess, who carries her own secrets around with her and shows him how the present moment can win out over memories and anxiety about what’s yet to come.

Wolf

Wolf is a lonely boy who surrounds himself by a world that responds to his desires. He brings Clara, the girl he loves, inside this world but when he can't be sure if she is still real or become imaginary he feels trapped and wants to escape.

Almost Famous

In 1973, 15-year-old William Miller's unabashed love of music and aspiration to become a rock journalist lands him an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview and tour with the up-and-coming band, Stillwater.

Closely Watched Trains

At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery, encountering a universe of frustration, eroticism, and adventure within his sleepy backwater depot.

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?

Shanghai Triad

Shanghai, China, 1930. When young Shuisheng arrives from the countryside, his uncle Liushu puts him at the service of Bijou, the mistress of Laoda, supreme boss of the Tang Triad, constantly threatened by his enemies, both those he knows and those lurking in the shadows.

A Summer's Tale

A shy maths graduate takes a holiday in Dinard before starting his first job. He hopes his sort-of girlfriend will join him, but soon strikes up a friendship with another girl working in town. She in turn introduces him to a further young lady who fancies him. Thus the quiet young lad finds he is having to do some tricky juggling in territory new to him.

Leaving Wonderland

Lara feels trapped in a world she no longer understands. Suffocated, she finds an escape in her childhood dreams and fantasies, but can she remain in this imaginary world forever or will reality prevail and force her to wake up?

Goodbye, Franklin High

Comic melodrama following the day-to-day life of high school senior Will, a promising but naive athlete struggling with choices that could determine his future, romance and family difficulties.

Dead Fishes

Shun Miyata's new life in Tokyo takes a dark turn when he and coworker Yuka discover their boss Yuriko is involved in insurance fraud and murder. As they grapple with the betrayal, their bond deepens, contrasting youthful hope against a backdrop of adult corruption.

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.

Hannah's Summer

A coming of age story about fourteen year old Hanna and her full of romance summer.

Y Tu Mamá También

In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.

Harold and Maude

The young Harold lives in his own world of suicide-attempts and funeral visits to avoid the misery of his current family and home environment. Harold meets an 80-year-old woman named Maude who also lives in her own world yet one in which she is having the time of her life. When the two opposites meet they realize that their differences don’t matter and they become best friends and love each other.

Popular Music

Matti and Niila, growing up in the mid-sixties in the harsh and conservative environment of a Finnish-speaking part of Tornedalen in Swedish Laponia, close to the Finnish border. Their big dream is to become rock stars. In the present the now grown-up Matti feels guilt for the death of his drug-addicted rock star friend Niila.

Goldie

Goldie, a precocious teenager in a family shelter, wages war against the system to keep her sisters together while she pursues her dreams of being a dancer. This is a story about displaced youth, ambition, and maintaining your spirit in the face of insurmountable obstacles.

Kiss Me Softly

17 year old Jasper lives in a very grey, small town. In his family, he cannot be himself. Jasper's dad is a singer, named Lukkie Luk. All the attention in the family goes to his career. Jasper searches a way to handle this and is faced with the typical questions in the life of an adolescent. Questions that will not be answered when he stays in his own routine.

Dead Poets Society

At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.

Rebel Without a Cause

After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.

The Outsiders

When two poor Greasers, Johnny and Ponyboy, are assaulted by a vicious gang, the Socs, and Johnny kills one of the attackers, tension begins to mount between the two rival gangs, setting off a turbulent chain of events.

The Wanderers

The streets of the Bronx are owned by '60s youth gangs where the joy and pain of adolescence is lived. Philip Kaufman tells his take on the novel by Richard Price about the history of the Italian-American gang ‘The Wanderers.’

Stand by Me

After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four Oregon boys decide to go see the body. On the way, Gordie, Vern, Chris and Teddy encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, as they also learn more about one another and their very different home lives. Just a lark at first, the boys' adventure evolves into a defining event in their lives.

The Finnster

Finn (15) is an uncomplicated schoolboy until one day, coming home from school, he catches his father Roelof in his moms dress. The man Finn has looked up to his whole life, wants to become a woman. Finn, just discovering his own sexuality, is troubled by this new discovery. A struggle with feelings of shame, love and loyalty follows. Luckily Lizzie, his newfound friend, is there to help him.

Love Steaks

Clemens works as a masseur, Lara as a cook, but their clientele is the same: the guests of a luxury hotel. As sparks begin to fly between the two, his sensitivity clashes with her more fiery temperament—opposites attract, but harmony is nowhere in sight.

The Lives We Lead

Two sisters and their male counterparts struggle with the negative influences of their youths over a 50-year period.

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.

Big Boys

A coming-of-age story about Jamie, a chubby, gay fourteen year-old, who develops a crush on his older cousin's boyfriend, Dan, on a family camping trip.