Monica and Friends: Lessons

City of God

August 2002 •Portuguese

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

The Boy Who Stole the World

Invalid date •English

A sci-fi fantasy adventure of a young boy whose life changes forever when a mysterious visitor lands from nowhere into his backyard to warn him of an impending invasion.

Bridge to Terabithia

February 2007 •English

Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.

300

March 2007 •English

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, "300" is very loosely based the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae, where the King of Sparta led his army against the advancing Persians; the battle is said to have inspired all of Greece to band together against the Persians, and helped usher in the world's first democracy.

Small Change

March 1976 •French

Various experiences of childhood are seen in several sequences that take place in the small town of Thiers, France. Vignettes include a boy's awakening interest in girls, couples double-dating at the movies, brothers giving their friend a haircut, a boy dealing with an abusive home life, a baby and a cat sitting by an open window, a child telling a dirty joke, and a boy who develops a crush on his friend's mother.

Paranoid Park

July 2007 •English

A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".

Persepolis

June 2007 •French

In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.

Boundary Waters

October 2024 •English

In the Iron Range of Minnesota, 12-year-old Michael is exploring the Boundary Waters with his friends and learning to flirt with girls, when one night his mother is badly hurt. Desperate to fix what happened, Michael struggles to become a man in a world where he learns men cause harm.

The Age of Potential

May 1996 •French

Ten young people (boys and girls) at the age at which all is possible. They meet, they love, they choose. The film comes and goes between all those people, revealing their anguish, their dreams, depicting the portrait of a generation of the '90s which has both the fury and the fear of life.

Mermaids

December 1990 •English

Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Flax is tired of her wacky mom moving their family to a different town any time she feels it is necessary. When they move to a small Massachusetts town and Mrs. Flax begins dating a shopkeeper, Charlotte and her 9-year-old sister, Kate, hope that they can finally settle down. But when Charlotte's attraction to an older man gets in the way, the family must learn to accept each other for who they truly are.

Hurra, die Schule brennt

December 1969 •German

A new teacher, Dr. Dr. Bach, is transferred from his quiet village elementary school to the Mommsen Gymnasium, bringing along his nephew Jan. Bach's lackadaisical methods raise the suspicions of the other teachers.

FLÜGGE

Invalid date •German

Black Mill

October 2020 •Polish

Twelve-year-old Iwo lives in a small, post-communist town that is home to the old and destroyed Black Mill – once a place of work for many parents. Breaking the promise to not approach the old mill, the children accidentally unleash its evil powers. From that moment, nothing will ever be the same again as people and things start to disappear.

Yesterday

September 2004 •Zulu

After falling ill, Yesterday learns that she is HIV positive. With her husband in denial and young daughter to tend to, Yesterday's one goal is to live long enough to see her child go to school.

The Wild Chicks

February 2006 •German

Twelve-year-old Sprotte has a 'gang' with her three friends Frieda, Melanie, and Trude. Together, the girls care for Sprotte's grandmother's chickens. The new girl in school, Wilma, wishes to join the group, which Melanie is very unhappy about, and on top of all of that they have an ongoing revalisasion with a group of boys.

Rebound

July 2005 •English

An acclaimed college hoops coach is demoted to a junior varsity team after a public meltdown.

Juno

December 2007 •English

Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, sixteen year old high-schooler, Juno MacGuff, makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

Tubelight

July 2018 •English

This is the story of a homeless orphan boy who wants to go to school and learn like every child should. He doesn't have the means but manages to soak in as much by sitting outside the window of a classroom and does his homework and study under a street light. But his only dream is to be able to sit inside the classroom and be a regular school kid. That dream does see the light of the day. How? When so many people from all walks of life, get to read his story and feel his spirit and zeal and it all starts with those who decide to tell his story and in doing so tell us the story of so many like him and bring hopes to so many like him.

Stop-Zemlia

September 2022 •Ukrainian

Hanging out with friends, smoking a lot, spinning bottles and kissing, making mistakes, playing, refusing to accept, dreaming with open eyes - life as a teenager can be overwhelmingly beautiful and difficult at the same time. In her debut, the Ukrainian director composes a deeply emotional and multi-layered portrait of a generation whilst seamlessly flowing between the fictional and the documental.

Miss Lonely

April 1985 •Japanese

Lonely and love-stricken high-school student Hiroki pursues a girl, but another one mysteriously appears in his life. Is she a figment of his psyche, or is she real?