The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films for Youth
Directed by: Kelly Fremon
U.S.A., 2016, 104 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 2
Score:
A new coming-of-age movie in the vein of Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club – an honest, candid, often hilarious look at what it's like to grow up as a young woman in today's modern world. Everyone knows that growing up is hard, and life is no easier for high school junior Nadine, who is already at peak awkwardness when her all-star older brother Darian starts dating her best friend Krista. All at once, Nadine feels more alone than ever, until the unexpected friendship of a thoughtful boy gives her a glimmer of hope that things just might not be so terrible after all.
Tjorven, Båtsman and Moses (1964)
Section: Days of Swedish Cinema
Directed by: Olle Hellbom
Sweden, 1964, 89 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 3
Score:
Vesterman has found a young seal in his fishing nets in the outskirts of the archipelago. When he comes back to the Saltkråkan island, he gives the seal to Tjorven, who names it Moses. Peter Malm, a visitor who works at the Zoological Institute in Uppsala, wants to buy the seal, but Tjorven says it's not for sale. Vesterman is in need of money and tries to get the seal back, to sell it to Peter. The children have to hide the seal, so he won't find it. Pelle's rabbit Jocke and one of Söderman's lambs are found bitten to death. The dog Båtsman is accused of those evil deeds and must be put down. What is to be the fate of Moses and Båtsman.
Lotta Leaves Home (1993)
Section: Days of Swedish Cinema
Directed by: Johanna Hald
Sweden, 1993, 83 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
Five-year-old Lotta is stubborn as a goat, her father says. This morning she refuses to put on that nasty, itchy sweater. Mummy is stupid and Lotta is furious. Quietly she cuts a big hole in her sweater. Then she moves in with Aunt Berg. Of course Lotta is right when she claims: ''I know a lot of things. Well, actually I know everything.'' She will never again have to put on that nasty sweater. An independent sequel to A Clever Little Girl Like Lotta, based on a novel by Astrid Lindgren.
Ronja, the Robber´s Daughter (1984)
Section: Days of Swedish Cinema
Directed by: Tage Danielsson
Norway, Sweden, 1984, 126 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
Ronja was born after a very stormy night to the bandit leader Mattis. Lightning from the storm struck Mattis's castle and split it in half, one half of which gets settled by a hostile gang of robbers lead by Borka. His son Birk was born the same night as Mattis's daughter. The two kids meet and they become best friends. The feud between the gangs continues, so the children decide to run away. Mattis disowns Ronja, but he later appears and asks Ronja for forgiveness and soon the two bandit gangs join together and organize a hunt for the soldiers who threaten them in the woods. In the end, they decide to join forever and Mattis and Borkou fight over who will be the leader...
Brenda Brave (1989)
Section: Days of Swedish Cinema
Directed by: Daniel Bergman
Sweden, 1989, 84 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 4
Score:
Brenda gladly helps her grandmother sell candy canes at the market square. But one day her grandmother suffers from a sore leg. Brenda has to take care of the candy cane sales all by herself.
Vitus (2006)
Section: Welcome to Switzerland
Directed by: Fredi M. Murer
Germany, Switzerland, 2006, 1 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 2
Score:
Vitus is a boy who almost seems to be from another planet: He has hearing like a bat, he plays piano like a virtuoso and studies encyclopaedias at the age of five. No wonder his parents begin to anticipate a brilliant future for him. They want Vitus to become a pianist. However, the little genius prefers to play in his eccentric grandfather’s workshop. He dreams of flying and of a normal childhood. Ultimately, with one dramatic leap, Vitus takes control of his own life…
Sami Blood (2016)
Section: International Competition of European First Films
Directed by: Amanda Kernell
Sweden, Denmark, Norway, 2016, 110 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 3
Score:
The Scandinavian variant of a shameful practice employed by self-proclaimed “civilized" nations around the world in the 19th and 20th centuries: the systematic removal of Indigenous children from their parents, homes, and traditional lifestyles and forced integration into an educational system that taught them that their customs and lifestyles were inferior at best. Elle Marja is a teenage Sámi girl in the 1930s who is sent to a boarding school intended on raising its Indigenous charges to a level "acceptable" to the rest of Swedish society. Curious and excited, Elle Marja at first excels in her new surroundings, mastering the Swedish language and her other lessons while her younger sister, Njenna, struggles. But this very success, coupled with Elle Marja's intense desire to be accepted by her teachers, her internalization of the school's vile lessons about race and class, and her burgeoning sexuality, soon drives a wedge between her and her fellow students, forcing her to take an action she may not have the opportunity to regret.
London Town (2016)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films for Youth
Directed by: Derrick Borte
U.K., U.S.A., 2016, 91 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 4
Score:
Experience the music and energy of the 1970's punk underground. When 15-year-old Shay hears the music of The Clash for the first time, it’s a revelation, opening up a new world of social consciousness and anti-establishment defiance beyond anything he’s known in his dead-end London suburb. Drawn into the heart of the city’s burgeoning punk scene, he forges two relationships that will change his life: falling in love with rebellious cool girl Vivian and finding an unexpected connection with none other than The Clash’s electrifying frontman, Joe Strummer. Propelled by a blistering soundtrack that bounces from The Clash to The Ramones to Buzzcocks, London Town captures the sound and spirit of a scene that shook the world.
Sebbe (2010)
Section: Days of Swedish Cinema
Directed by: Babak Najafi
Finland, Sweden, 2010, 83 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
Sebbe is 15 and lives with his mother in an apartment that is really very small. Sebbe does what he can. He never strikes back. He loves his mother because otherwise he couldn't carry on. He escapes to a junkyard where his hands bring unliving things to life. He has the power of creativity. He's free there, but alone. His detachment increases at the same pace as his world shrinks, until finally one day he is completely isolated, with only his mother. If she fails, everything else will disappear.
The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films for Youth
Directed by: Kelly Fremon
U.S.A., 2016, 104 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 1
Score:
A new coming-of-age movie in the vein of Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club – an honest, candid, often hilarious look at what it's like to grow up as a young woman in today's modern world. Everyone knows that growing up is hard, and life is no easier for high school junior Nadine, who is already at peak awkwardness when her all-star older brother Darian starts dating her best friend Krista. All at once, Nadine feels more alone than ever, until the unexpected friendship of a thoughtful boy gives her a glimmer of hope that things just might not be so terrible after all.
Gasping for Air (2016)
Section: Night Horizons
Directed by: Carlo Obispo
Philippines, 2016, 104 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
Luis is a teenage boy on the idyllic fishing island of Silag. He goes through the regular trials of adolescence with his childhood sweetheart, Maricar, while his younger sister, Lulu busies herself by joining amateur singing contests in hopes of becoming a star. One day, a talent manager discovers her singing and offers her to undergo vocal coaching in Manila, and later to join a popular TV singing contest. Lulu eagerly takes the opportunity and leaves for the city, thinking her dreams are finally coming true. However, after a few months, Lulu’s family loses communication with her. This drives Luis to go to Manila in search for his sister.
Swallows and Amazons (2016)
Section: Panorama
Directed by: Philippa Lowthorpe
U.K., 2016, 97 min
Projection place: Mala scena
Score:
Set over an idyllic English summer holiday, the four Walker children and their sailing rivals, the Blacketts, run amok in their boats against the stunning backdrop of the Lake District. The Walkers sail the agile Swallow and the Blacketts commandeer The Amazon, making camp on a nearby island. Their world is one of imagination – filled with pirates and canons, where boats are captured and the enemy has to walk the plank. But when family friend, Uncle Jim is revealed to be a spy, our motley crew are forced to put down their imaginary swords and band together to protect him from his Soviet enemies.
Half Ticket (2016)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films for Children
Directed by: Samit Kakkad
India, 2016, 100 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 4
Score:
A film about desires and the yearning for the unattainable, Half Ticket is a story of two slum kids who are fascinated with the arrival of a new pizza shop in their locality. Expensive beyond their means, they long to try one. But, fate has a different game in store for them. Weaving a story of myriad relationships in the world of the Have-Nots, Half Ticket interlaces the story of the kids' desires for a Pizza with a mother's desire to bring her husband back home and a low-rent thug's desire for easy money. The film also metaphorically shows the world of the 'Haves' and their desire for the little things in lives that elude them and the desires invoked by television, which teach us to salivate over things we never even knew existed. ln a world divided, the desires explored through the film showcase a world filled with expectations and aspirations – an entry ticket to an exclusive club.
Mum's Wrong (2016)
Section: Panorama
Directed by: Marc Fitoussi
France, 2016, 92 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
Anouk, a fourteen-year-old ninth grader, has to spend a week's work experience as part of her school curriculum. As she cannot get an internship at the TV channel she wanted to go to, her single mother Cyrielle decides to enroll her at the insurance company where she works as a junior executive. Bad pick, because Anouk is not only given nothing more exciting to do than to "re-organize a storage closet", but she also discovers some nasty secrets the Serenita company keeps hidden. Nasty secrets her mother might have something to do with...
Cloudboy (2017)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films for Children
Directed by: Meikeminne Clinckspoor
Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, 2017, 78 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
Twelve-year-old city boy Niilas has been living with his father for as long as he can remember and barely knows his Swedish mother. This summer, Niilas has to travel to Lapland – much against his will – where his mother and her new family live amongst the Sami, an indigenous reindeer-herding people. Despite a warm welcome, Niilas retreats inward. The only one who can get through to him is his half-sister Sunnà. The reindeer migration is fully underway and Niilas has to lend a helping hand. When a reindeer goes missing, Niilas joins in the search, and an impressive moose keeps crossing his path at the most unexpected moments. Gradually he discovers his roots, which prove to be stronger than he ever could have imagined. Against all odds, Niilas experiences the most adventurous summer of his life.
Ronja, the Robber´s Daughter (1984)
Section: Days of Swedish Cinema
Directed by: Tage Danielsson
Norway, Sweden, 1984, 126 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 2
Score:
Ronja was born after a very stormy night to the bandit leader Mattis. Lightning from the storm struck Mattis's castle and split it in half, one half of which gets settled by a hostile gang of robbers lead by Borka. His son Birk was born the same night as Mattis's daughter. The two kids meet and they become best friends. The feud between the gangs continues, so the children decide to run away. Mattis disowns Ronja, but he later appears and asks Ronja for forgiveness and soon the two bandit gangs join together and organize a hunt for the soldiers who threaten them in the woods. In the end, they decide to join forever and Mattis and Borkou fight over who will be the leader...
Tjorven, Båtsman and Moses (1964)
Section: Days of Swedish Cinema
Directed by: Olle Hellbom
Sweden, 1964, 89 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 3
Score:
Vesterman has found a young seal in his fishing nets in the outskirts of the archipelago. When he comes back to the Saltkråkan island, he gives the seal to Tjorven, who names it Moses. Peter Malm, a visitor who works at the Zoological Institute in Uppsala, wants to buy the seal, but Tjorven says it's not for sale. Vesterman is in need of money and tries to get the seal back, to sell it to Peter. The children have to hide the seal, so he won't find it. Pelle's rabbit Jocke and one of Söderman's lambs are found bitten to death. The dog Båtsman is accused of those evil deeds and must be put down. What is to be the fate of Moses and Båtsman.
Mother Lake (2016)
Section: Panorama
Directed by: Naoki Segi
Japan, 2016, 96 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
In 2036, Ryosuke Fujii (31) makes triumphant return to his hometown as a world famous photographer. An exhibition of his work is on display there and he meets up again with an old childhood friend, Kento. Kento shows Ryosuke a dinosaur he has made based on the legendary “Biwassie” the “Nessie” of Lake Biwa. One summer over 20 years ago, 11-year-old Ryosuke, Kento and his cousin Saki, spotted a mysterious, big, black object, apparently swimming on the surface of Lake Biwa. Naturally, few believed them, but Ryosuke learns that his late mother, Yumiko, a famous photographer, also saw the same creature and she had done a lot of research into the legendary Dragon God, Biwassie.
Memories of Summer (2016)
Section: Panorama
Directed by: Adam Guzinski
Poland, 2016, 87 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
Summer. Late 1970s. A small provincial town. Twelve-year-old Piotrek lives with his mother – there is a very strong bond between them. While his father is away, Piotrek's mother starts going out almost every night. Instantly their simple and clear relationship starts to get complicated. Entangled in the affairs of the adult world, Piotrek feels lost and lonely. Spending time with his peers brings first fascinations, then disappointments. Upon his father's return, Piotrek must face an uncomfortable choice. Will he support his mother? Will he be loyal to his father? How will his painful and difficult experience influence his relationship with his mother?
Little Wing (2016)
Section: International Competition of European First Films
Directed by: Selma Vilhunen
Finland, Denmark, 2016, 100 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 3
Score:
A sharp and touching portrait of adolescence. A tender-hearted coming-of-age story shot in a low-key, realist style. It centers on a resourceful adolescent who decides to track down her biological father… Twelve years old and small for her age, Varpu may not be as physically developed as other girls but she is mature and independent beyond her years. Indeed, it's her mother that behaves in an inappropriately child-like manner: crying when she can't pass her driver's test, clambering into her daughter's bed when she feels sad and lonely and complaining about her life rather than asking Varpu about hers. She can't even remember her daughter's birthday. Yearning for a less self-centered parent, one night Varpu decides to go find her dad. But even though she can act like an adult, it doesn't mean she has an adult's understanding of the world...