Raízes (2024)

Saturday Morning Gift

A short film based on a real interview with a kid survived the 2006 war on Lebanon.

The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis

A journey through C.S. Lewis’ early life and his dramatic conversion story about his inner conflict.

Mirror

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

Small Change

Various experiences of childhood are seen in several sequences that take place in the small town of Thiers, France. Vignettes include a boy's awakening interest in girls, couples double-dating at the movies, brothers giving their friend a haircut, a boy dealing with an abusive home life, a baby and a cat sitting by an open window, a child telling a dirty joke, and a boy who develops a crush on his friend's mother.

July

One hot summer afternoon, two boys try to earn the cash for a movie in this beautiful evocation of the landscape of childhood.

A Girl Returned

A 13 years old girl is forced to go living with another family for reasons unknown.

The Home Song Stories

A glamorous Hong Kong performer struggles to make a home in suburban 1960s Australia.

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.

The Red Balloon

A young boy discovers a stray balloon, which seems to have a mind of its own, on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world’s harsh realities finally interfere.

Summer 1993

After her mother's death, six-year-old Frida is sent to her uncle's family to live with them in the countryside. But Frida finds it hard to forget her mother and adapt to her new life.

The Tree of Life

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

The Song of Names

A man searching for his childhood best friend — a Polish violin prodigy orphaned in the Holocaust — who vanished decades before on the night of his first public performance.

Goodbye to Our Kindergarten

One day, five kindergarten children suddenly disappear from a kindergarten in Tokyo, sending their teachers and parents into a panic. The five of them are connecting on trains and headed to an unfamiliar place for some purpose. Before their journey, they had made a promise to each other “not to cry no matter what happens”

Dreamcatcher

Four boyhood pals perform a heroic act and are changed by the powers they gain in return. Years later, on a hunting trip in the Maine woods, they're overtaken by a vicious blizzard that harbors an ominous presence. Challenged to stop an alien force, the friends must first prevent the slaughter of innocent civilians by a military vigilante ... and then overcome a threat to the bond that unites the four of them.

Like Stars on Earth

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate. Colours, fish, dogs, and kites don't seem important to the adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks, and neatness. Ishaan cannot seem to get anything right in class; he is then sent to boarding school, where his life changes forever.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio, Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.

Gieselmann

How do you become who you are? Through the slights one experiences, believes freelance journalist and author Dirk Gieselmann. One late evening, he is alone in his apartment. His camera is set up in front of him, with which he records himself. In doing so, he first introduces himself personally and announces that he will call three people. In the telephone calls that follow, he confronts his interlocutors with long-ago encounters, experienced ruthlessness and the accusation that they drove him out of the paradise of childhood. That evening, he wants to know what the reasons were for the slights and hopes to be able to make sense of them. He realizes that his childhood has finally come to an end and remembers the world of thoughts that surrounded him when he was a little boy. Then he receives an unexpected call from his family.

The Fabelmans

Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.

Finding Friends

This kid has to move to a farm in his summer vacation and don't get to go to Norway Cup as he had planned for. Out on the country there is bad cellphone reception, cow smell and inbreed farmers as far as the eye can see. The family Volvo get stolen and the foreigners in the small town automatically gets blamed. From there is a chase to discover what truly happened...

The Slingshot

Stockholm in the 1920s. Young Roland lives with his socialist father, Jewish mother and a boxing brother. His mother sells condoms illegally, and from them, Roland makes slingshots which he sells. His rebellious ways has gotten him the special attention of his school teacher, who always makes sure that Roland is punished. Roland also tries to make extra money by repairing bicycles, a successful business that in the end lands him in hot water.

C'mon C'mon

Johnny and his young nephew forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they embark on a cross-country trip to see life away from Los Angeles.

The Girl

Story of a ten-year-old girl left alone in her house in the summer of 1981.

Boy A

Freed after a lengthy term in a juvenile detention center, convicted child killer Jack Burridge finds work as a deliveryman and begins dating co-worker Michelle. While out on the road one day, Jack notices a distressed child, and, after reuniting the girl with her family, becomes a local celebrity. But when a local newspaper unearths his past, Jack must cope with the anger of citizens who fear for the safety of their children.

Reinventing Marvin

Telling the true story of Marvin Bijou, a young boy from a working-class family in a small village, who suffers constant bullying at school and home for being ‘different’ – too sensitive and too feminine. A chance encounter with a drama teacher opens the doors to a world that offers him the chance to escape his situation.

Hearts in Atlantis

A widowed mother and her son change when a mysterious stranger enters their lives.

I Was Born, But...

Two young brothers become the leaders of a gang of kids in their neighborhood. Ozu's charming film is a social satire that draws from the antics of childhood as well as the tragedy of maturity.

The Curse of the Cat People

Amy, the young, friendless daughter of Oliver and Alice Reed, befriends her father's late first wife and an aging, reclusive actress.

Echoes of the Rainbow

Told through the eyes of sticky-fingered eight-year-old boy Big Ears, Echoes of the Rainbow takes place in a close-knit grassroots community in 1960s Hong Kong. Big Ears' mother and father run the neighborhood shoe store, and his older brother Desmond is every family's dream son - an outstanding athlete with grades worthy of Hong Kong's best school.

Naked Childhood

Handed over to foster care by his mother—who's unwilling to give up permanent custody—the now-adolescent François understands that nothing in life is permanent, and his increasingly erratic actions reflect this knowledge.

Guerrero: The Movie

At age ten, Paolo asks his mother he wants to meet his father, an unknown soccer player who retired early due to an injury. The boy does not know it, but the reunion with his father and with his discipline, incites in him a change of character that will turn him into the professional soccer player that all Peruvians know well; the warrior, the fighter. Paolo with the help of his neighborhood friends and with all the support from his mother, manages to overcome obstacles and fulfill his dream.

Love Likes Coincidences

Year 1977, a September morning in Ankara... Yilmaz tries to rush his pregnant wife Neriman to the hospital and he crushes into Omer's car. This accident causes Omer's pregnant wife Inci, who was in the back seat, to have a pre-term labor. The babies are born on the same day. They see each other for the first time... This accident is the threshold of the coincidences that bring Ozgur and Deniz together.

Storm Boy

Storm Boy lives a lonely life with his reclusive father on a desolate coastline, but when he forms a close bond with a pelican, Mr. Percival, his life takes a new and unexpected turn.

Afterimage

Experiencing extreme sleep deprivation for months, a young man tape-records his memories for preservation against sinister, clandestine watchers.

Home Alone

Bad dreams may come true...

Toto the Hero

80-year-old Thomas recounts his childhood and middle age through a series of flashbacks and dream sequences. Thomas believes he’s been taken away from a better life at birth; following a hospital fire, he vividly recalls being swapped with another new-born, and subsequently grows up in a poorer neighbouring household.

Monster

After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.

Erebos

Two nieces, Tilda and Harriët, meet again after a long time. But now, a rat named Erebos has come between them.

Manjadikuru

A story of homecoming from late 1970s, when 10 year old Vicky arrives at his grandparents home in rural Kerala to attend his grandfather's funeral. The disjointed family gathers together for the sixteen day long funeral period. During this period, Vicky discovers more about himself, his family and culture than he had expected to. The journey is narrated through the memories of an adult Vicky who returns to the same house to recount the experience.

The Friends

A delightful and moving coming-of-age story. One summer, three young boys take an increasing interest in an eccentric old man who lives alone in a house surrounded by an overgrown garden. The boys form a bond with the recluse and set about weeding and replanting the garden.

Julieta

The film spans 30 years in Julieta’s life from a nostalgic 1985 where everything seems hopeful, to 2015 where her life appears to be beyond repair and she is on the verge of madness.

Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood

A man narrates stories of his life as a 10-year-old boy in 1969 Houston, weaving tales of nostalgia with a fantastical account of a journey to the moon.

The Lucky Pennies

Antoine got some family issues so he follows the advices of Lucy on how to make a wish. It's quite easy, you just need to find a lucky penny and to put it on a railroad track. If the train passes and the penny does'nt fall off, then you know the wish will come true.

The Mountain

Sam, a fearless young girl raised outside of her Māori culture, is determined to fulfill her mission of connecting with her mountain. She hopes it can heal her from the cancer she is battling. Along the way, she meets some misfits and new kids in town, and together they journey through a difficult route, discovering the true spirit of adventure and the magic of friendship.

El camino

Shortly before leaving his small town to go to the big city to study, young Daniel recalls his childhood, surrounded by family and friends.

The Orheim Company

A strong, human tale about a boy growing up with an alcoholic father, but also an energetic story about teenage lust, pain and passion – about liberation and redemption.

The Childhood of a Leader

The chilling story of a young American boy living in France in 1918 whose father is working for the US government on the creation of the Treaty of Versailles. What he witnesses helps to mold his beliefs – and we witness the birth of a terrifying ego.

50 Ways of Saying Fabulous

Sweet, chubby, theatrical Billy was never cut out to be a farmer or a rugby player, but as the only son of a ‘good kiwi bloke’ he’s obliged to try. The cows are stubborn and the chores gruelling but Billy finds escape in a fantasy world playing Lana, heroine of his favourite TV show Adventures in Space. Not everyone approves of Billy's transformation. On the brink of adolescene, he discovers growing up is more complicated than he could ever have imagined.

Haami

Little Bhutu and Chini are best friends. When Bhutu kisses Chini, their innocent friendship leads to a major scandal. Who is to be blamed when our society lets down the little ones?

The Street

This film deals with a Jewish family in Montreal, Canada as they care for a dying grandmother and the young boy who is impatient to get the room he was promised as soon as she kicks the bucket.

My Brother's Keeper

The story of a Finnish rap artist Cheek and his brother.

Close

Two 13-year-old boys spend an idyllic summer together, but their connection is put to the test when they become the subject of speculation at school.

Brumal

Adriana and her mother left Brumal, a strange and remote village, and moved to the city while still a child. Once Adriana's mother dies, she's marked by memories and intense nostalgia for her hometown, and returns to Brumal.

The Silence

Fatma and her mother are Kurdish refugees living in Italy. One day at the hospital, Fatma learns her mother has breast cancer.

Wortels Uit Blik

When his father has to move back to Italy, Thijn is in conflict because he wants to stay with his friends in The Netherlands. Do his problems stay problems as he keeps living in his mind?