Filmtips: School is starting

Life at School in the movies.

Summer is over and a new school year is starting. While some enjoy the smell of new erasers and new books, school can, for others, be scary, big and a negative experience altogether. 

Here are some documentaries and feature films about starting school, staying in school and life beyond school. Get ready to be inspired, moved and engaged!

The youngest

Fra barn til borger  (documentary, 2016)

Max and Sofia have finished kindergarten. They take their first steps into a more adult world when they at the start of the film begin their life at school. The film follows them for the next year. 

Secondary school

Half Nelson (2006)

Dan Dunne is a young teacher in the big city, whose ideals withers and dies in the face of everyday realities. Day after day, in the worn-down classroom in Brooklyn, he somehow finds energy to inspire his 13- and 14-year-olds to study everything from civil rights to civil war. He rejects the normal curriculum for a more open approach, to teach the students to think for themselves. 

School politics

Et minutts stillhet (2018)

The year is 1956. During a visit to the cinema in West-Berlin friends Theo and Kurt watch dramatic images of the Hungarian riots in Budapest. Back at school in Stalinstadt they decide to stage a spontaneous one-minute silence, in solidarity with the victims of the riot. 

Those who struggle to adjust to school

Bully (documentary, 2011)

1 out of 3 drop out of high school in Norway. On their way to a future of unemployment a group of young people are given the opportunity to change their lives. Two rules are absolute, 1: Be on time, and 2: Stay drug-free.

Life outside of school

School of Life (2017)

Paul is sent from the simple orphanage in one of Paris' poorer neighborhoods to live in the country with the cheerful Celestine and her quiet ranger-husband at the large estate of count de Fresnayes. 

The Selfish Giant (2013)

Hyper active 13-year-old Arbor is expelled from school. He convinces his harmonious and loyal friend Swifty to join him, and they find work at the local scrapdealer.

Enjoy!

Published: 14/08/2024   Last updated: 14/08/2024