Necessary Years of Learning

Böttcher made his graduation film about young people who had become delinquent in a youth work yard in Thuringia. Already here a striking feature of his later films becomes apparent: Jürgen Böttcher gives his protagonists a lot of space; he approaches them without prejudice, empathetically and carefully. In addition, his curiosity can be felt in the life situations and stories of his characters.

On n'est pas des racailles

Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare

Out-of-control teens across America were sent to a therapy camp in the harsh Utah desert. The conditions were brutal, but the staff were even worse.

Boys without a home

Young people who have to survive without a home base are helped on their way to a life on their own two feet at Wonen Met Kansen. Little by little, with trial and error, but with the rock-solid confidence that the supervisors have in them.

La banlieue, c’est le paradis

In the 1960s, the suburbs were meant to be modern havens for newcomers from rural France, Portugal, Spain, North Africa, and Africa, helping rebuild post-war France. Large housing complexes symbolized this ideal, offering comfort, heating, and electricity. But by the 1980s, disillusionment set in as economic crisis, unemployment, poverty, crime, racism, and police violence took hold. Mohamed Bouhafsi tells the story of a dream that didn’t last.

The Long Night

An urgent, heart-breaking investigation into the young lives changed forever by under-age prostitution and exploitation.

Boys Will Be Men

This film takes a candid, inside look at the world of juvenile delinquency. We are shown the tough existence on the streets of Montreal, but it could be any city in North America. Some boys as young as ten years of age talk about their lives of crime, the things that are important to them, and the hopes they hold for the future.

Girl's Reform School

The day to day life in an establishment for delinquent teenage girls.

Kids

A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking and deflowering virgins.

Gridiron Gang

Under the leadership of their counselor, teenagers at a juvenile detention center gain self-esteem by playing football together. Based on a true story.

Social Misfits

A group of teenagers are forced to work together while being stuck in Camp Resurrection for 48 hours.

Blue Spring

Soon after being named the new leader of his high school's gang system, Kujo grows bored with the violence and hatred that surround him. He wants desperately to abandon his post… but his once-enviable position of power has a strange way of making him feel powerless.

Flora and Son

Single mom Flora is at a loss about what to do with her rebellious teenage son, Max. Her efforts to keep him out of trouble lead to a beat-up acoustic guitar, a washed-up LA musician, and harmony for this frayed Dublin family.

Just for the Hell of It

A teenage boy is blamed for a Florida neighborhood being terrorized, but the real culprits are a punk gang leading local delinquents on a nihilistic spree of destruction and mayhem.

Anatomy of a Psycho

The crazed brother of a condemned killer sent to the gas chamber swears vengeance on those he holds responsible for his brother's execution.

Yolngu Boy

After committing a crime for which he is likely to be jailed, a Yolngu teenager convinces two of his childhood friends to join him on a journey from North East Arnhem Land to Darwin to seek help from a tribal leader.

The False Student

A youth drama set in a Japanese university which is home to a group of active, leftist students.

Time Still Turns the Pages

High school teacher Cheng looks back to his repressed childhood memories, as he finds an anonymous suicide note in the classroom. He strives hard to prevent another tragedy from happening, meanwhile facing a series of family problems, his wife is divorcing him, and his father is dying.

Les Sagards

Mehdi, 17, is sentenced to perform hours of community service for a minor offense. He arrives in Auvergne where he must serve his sentence - six weeks with a taciturn lumberjack, Abel Vagnier, owner of a sawmill which he operates alone with Tonton, a former wrestler. Abel, overwhelmed, accepts the placement of Mehdi, who discovers work, the countryside and life the hard way, the shock is harsh. He finds himself immersed in a universe where his bearings no longer apply. Communication, initially difficult, is slowly established despite everyone's failings...

To Sir, with Love II

After thirty years teaching in London, Mark Thackeray retires and returns to Chicago. There, however, the challenge of teaching kids in an inner city school proves to be too much to resist.