Karen the penguin is not pleased to see John the polar bear on her doorstep. Their argument last night has put her in a very bad mood and John is on egg shells. John has had time to think however and has put together an apology that he hopes will appease her bad temper; he just needs an opportunity to say it out loud with Karen in ear shot. A cup of tea and a sit down would also be good. Karen reluctantly obliges.
In 2001, director Chloe Ruthven got a job in a central London primary school, working with children who were failing in class. Nini and his friend Mario immediately stood out as two, bright adventurous Albanian children, and Chloe began working with them, encouraging them to use her video camera as a way of exploring their own lives.
Over the next seven years, the three develop a special relationship. But as the boys grow up, the lure of the street begins to prove too much, and only the director can stand in its way. This is the disturbing story of two boys growing up in a world where childhood is under threat, and asks fundamental questions about how we view and raise our children.
A young girl's carefully crafted magical world shatters when her mother is hospitalised and her estranged grandma comes to stay. The only way grandma can communicate with her is via the fantastical stories she tells. As they battle each other their new roles in the house, they come to terms with their grief.
In Kisumu, Kenya, a group of boys create and perform an Aids awareness show for local audiences, based on their own lives as HIV orphans, and their experience of life on the streets. In so doing, they find a voice, and discover a sense of purpose.
The classic story of Peter and The Wolf comes brilliantly to life in this animated film, recounting a magical world in which little boys can find the strength and courage to overcome their fears and the ever-present dangers that surround them.
The idyllic world of 6 year-old Ravi (the Watchman's son) is tranformed when Pooja moves into the building with her husband Rohit. Pooja takes Ravi under her wing, puts him in school and introduces him to a whole new world, but can she keep it up.
In a typical satellite town found anywhere in Britain, Ryan is on the verge of adolescence. Spending his days filled with boredom wondering around the run down housing estate he happens across some older kids and finds himself being drawn into their world of aggression and intimidation.
When a move to a new house coincides with his baby sister's illness, Michael's world suddenly seems lonely and uncertain. Then, one afternoon he stumbles into the old ramshackle garage at the end of the garden, and finds something that will change his world forever.
Skellig is a strange and extraordinary creature, as ancient as the earth and now intent on a life of nothing and nobody. With his new friend Mina who teaches him to look at the world through different eyes, Michael nourishes the reluctant Skellig back to health, while his parents are preoccupied with this baby sister lying in hospital. When Micheal realises that Skellig may have much more power than he would ever admit to, he knows he has to give Skellig back faith in his own power to heal, before it is too late.
Supramanya (Supraman) is a young Indian boy whose blind mother is struggling to make ends meet. When she gives up on taking care of him, Supraman takes matters into his own hands.
Tad's Nest a place where eels mature before being compelled to return to a location using only memories of sensations to guide them. The film examines the way memories are held as sensations and the ability of memory to invent people and places to perform the sensations. Compulsion to return, replay, and revisit.
Two siblings toil in a world of monotonous machinery, but when a special winged book arrives, a glorious green world unfolds and offers an opportunity to escape their industrialised setting for a lush natural one.
