The White Dove (1960)
Section: Golden Slipper for Special Contribution in Children´s and Youth Cinema
Directed by: František Vláčil
Czech Republic, 1960, 76 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
People in Belgium release hundreds of carrier pigeons, who immediately head for their homes. But a white dove from the German island of Fehmarn, which belongs to 12-year-old Susanne, gets lost in a storm and appears far from his goal, over the rooftops of Prague. It's here that it's shot by ten-year-old Michal, who has been paralyzed in both legs after an accident and who hates the whole world. Thanks to his neighbor, a sculptor, the boy finds feelings within himself and a need to heal the wounded creature.
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.
Normal Autistic Film (2016)
Section: Documentary Films
Directed by: Miroslav Janek
Czech Republic, 2016, 90 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 2
Score:
Children with autism don’t suffer from an incurable disease. They suffer because they are neurodiverse in a world set up for neurotypicals. With that perspective, the director embarks on a series of live meetings with a number of children and young adults who have been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. He gives them the opportunity to express freely their relationship with the world and with themselves, as well as what sets them apart from “normal”. We find that he’s brought us into the company of fun, fascinating people who often suffer because they are labelled as “disabled”. This excursion into the world of autism redefines the seemingly firm boundaries between “otherness” and normality.
My First Highway (2016)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films for Youth
Directed by: Kevin Meul
Belgium, 2016, 82 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 4
Score:
During his annual family holiday to Spain, 16-year-old Benjamin becomes infatuated with one of the local girls. Anne is fascinating and beautiful and he quickly falls in love with her, little suspecting the direction in which events are about to turn. One drunken night, Anne shares a dark secret with him; she wants to find and confront the man who raped her. Head over heels in love and desperate to prove himself, Benjamin resolves to become her hero and the pair embark on a voyage of discovery from which there can be no turning back.
Little Harbour (2017)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films for Children
Directed by: Iveta Grófová
Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, 2017, 85 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 2
Score:
A story inspired by true events about two children whose innocent play will change their lives forever. For Lucia, Jarka is nothing more than a best friend. Ten-year-old Jarka doesn’t see it that way though. She would much rather have her mom try to be a mother instead. Jarka dreams of having a real family and a house by the sea. Left on her own, she stumbles upon twin infants abandoned at the train station and decides to take them in. Her grandmother’s enchanted garden becomes a safe haven where she can take on the role of a parent together with her neighbour Kristian, who himself suffers from overprotective parents. In an impressive manner, the two prove how loving true affection and an awareness of responsibility can look when individuals hold tight to their dreams without disappointing those closest to them.
Filthy (2017)
Section: International Competition of European First Films
Directed by: Tereza Nvotová
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2017, 87 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 1
Score:
This is the coming-of-age story of 17-year old Lena. In love with a boy for the first time, Lena longs for freedom and adventure. Her magic world is shattered instantly when her teacher, whom all her classmates have a crush on, rapes her in her own home. Instead of sharing her trauma, Lena keeps it a secret, even from her best friend. Her pent up feelings drive her to attempt suicide. Her family in shock, Lena ends up in a psychiatric ward. In the middle of wild and similarly misunderstood kids, she discovers she is not alone in her experience. But when her close roommate hangs herself, Lena hits bottom. She agrees to electroconvulsive therapy. At first, it seems to help and – apart from memory loss – Lena is well again. But the attempt to live her old life doesn’t last long. Gradually, her memories come to the surface, bringing a realization that is unbearable. This time, however, she does not fall into the same abyss of self-hate and instead tries to face the trauma.
Don't Call Me Son (2016)
Section: Panorama
Directed by: Anna Muylaert
Brazil, 2016, 82 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
Pierre is 17 and in mid-puberty. He plays in a band, has sex at parties and secretly tries on women’s clothing and lipstick in front of a mirror. Ever since his father’s death, his mother Aracy has looked after him and his younger sister Jacqueline, spoiling them both. But when he discovers that she stole him from a hospital when he was a new born baby, Pierre’s life changes dramatically. Overnight, his world falls apart and his mother Aracy is arrested. His biological parents Gloria and Matheus have spent 17 years searching for him; they are now desperate to make up for the lost years and spend time with their eldest son, whom they call Felipe. But Pierre has his own designs for his life.
Teenage Kicks (2016)
Section: Night Horizons
Directed by: Craig Boreham
Australia, 2016, 99 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
Miklos Varga is punching his way through the dark terrain that exists somewhere between the vague, scratchy signposts marked “Boy” and “Man.” On the verge of his 18th birthday, Miklos’ world has come crumbling down. His plans to run away and escape the strangulating hold of his migrant family have been tipped sideways by a family disaster. Only Mik knows the events that led to this tragedy, and he blames just one person: himself. Mik is suddenly torn between his desire to head north and start a new life with his best friend Dan, and the obligation to his broken family. Is Mik a danger to himself and everyone around him, or just a kid caught hopelessly in the tripwires of teen angst?
Little Harbour (2017)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films for Children
Directed by: Iveta Grófová
Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, 2017, 85 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 1
Score:
A story inspired by true events about two children whose innocent play will change their lives forever. For Lucia, Jarka is nothing more than a best friend. Ten-year-old Jarka doesn’t see it that way though. She would much rather have her mom try to be a mother instead. Jarka dreams of having a real family and a house by the sea. Left on her own, she stumbles upon twin infants abandoned at the train station and decides to take them in. Her grandmother’s enchanted garden becomes a safe haven where she can take on the role of a parent together with her neighbour Kristian, who himself suffers from overprotective parents. In an impressive manner, the two prove how loving true affection and an awareness of responsibility can look when individuals hold tight to their dreams without disappointing those closest to them.
Filthy (2017)
Section: International Competition of European First Films
Directed by: Tereza Nvotová
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2017, 87 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 3
Score:
This is the coming-of-age story of 17-year old Lena. In love with a boy for the first time, Lena longs for freedom and adventure. Her magic world is shattered instantly when her teacher, whom all her classmates have a crush on, rapes her in her own home. Instead of sharing her trauma, Lena keeps it a secret, even from her best friend. Her pent up feelings drive her to attempt suicide. Her family in shock, Lena ends up in a psychiatric ward. In the middle of wild and similarly misunderstood kids, she discovers she is not alone in her experience. But when her close roommate hangs herself, Lena hits bottom. She agrees to electroconvulsive therapy. At first, it seems to help and – apart from memory loss – Lena is well again. But the attempt to live her old life doesn’t last long. Gradually, her memories come to the surface, bringing a realization that is unbearable. This time, however, she does not fall into the same abyss of self-hate and instead tries to face the trauma.
The Transfiguration (2016)
Section: Night Horizons
Directed by: Michael O'Shea
U.S.A., 2016, 97 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 2
Score:
Even in populous New York City it is easy to become lonely. Fourteen-year-old Milo suffers from bullying and solitude but has a secret he escapes to: an urge to drink human blood. Living only with his older brother Lewis, Milo spends his days alone in his room making notes about murder, trawling the streets at night in search of victims. When an older girl Sophie moves into the same building, Milo is taken aback by his unprecedented feelings.
My First Highway (2016)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films for Youth
Directed by: Kevin Meul
Belgium, 2016, 82 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 3
Score:
During his annual family holiday to Spain, 16-year-old Benjamin becomes infatuated with one of the local girls. Anne is fascinating and beautiful and he quickly falls in love with her, little suspecting the direction in which events are about to turn. One drunken night, Anne shares a dark secret with him; she wants to find and confront the man who raped her. Head over heels in love and desperate to prove himself, Benjamin resolves to become her hero and the pair embark on a voyage of discovery from which there can be no turning back.
Who Saw Him Die (1968)
Section: Days of Swedish Cinema
Directed by: Jan Troell
Sweden, 1968, 110 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 4
Score:
Martensson is a disillusioned teacher trying desperately to keep control of a class that has gone askew. He valiantly tries to bridge the generation gap while alternately loving and hating his job and his students.
Jan - Challenge at the net (2013)
Section: Welcome to Switzerland
Directed by: Benjamin Kempf Siemens, Rafael Benito
Switzerland, 2013, 94 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
The Guler family has a dream: to take their youngest son Jan to the top of the tennis world. When his classmates start an apprenticeship or attend grammar school, Jan enters the Swiss professional tennis camp. This is a challenge for the whole family and we are witness over a period of five years to how the Guler family deals with the sport, family, and the social demands of a professional tennis career. The teenager Jan develops gradually into a young man.