Children’s and youth films: effect-laden entertainment and realistic dramas

At the 51^st Nordic Film Days Lübeck, the Nordic production of children’s and youth films proves to be as up-to-date as ever, as well as being of the highest quality on a global scale. Produced as perfect family entertainment on a high technical level, this year’s films centre around the topics of friendship and self-discovery as well as sickness and death: the Danish youth drama “Crying for Love” by Christian E. Christiansen tells of three young women with cancer, who fight for their life dreams and struggle with their fear of death. Martin Schmidt’s effect-laden “Monster Busters” is about two brothers who must become monster hunters and capture a sinister shadow ghost. Norwegian director Jesper W. Nielsen presents “Through a Glass, Darkly”, a Christmas tale after a book by the bestselling author Jostein Gaarder. Atle Knudsen’s “ORPS – The Movie” is a gripping musical comedy about the struggle of a small youth brass band against a scheming conductor and her corrupt big band. “Dreams” by Ivica Zubak is a realistic youth drama from Sweden. In it, a 19-year old pupil must decide between a criminal career and the taking on of responsibility. “Forbidden Fruit” by Dome Karukoski from Finland tells of the experiences made by two young girls from a provincial protestant community in the “sinful” city. In the Lithuanian “The Balcony” by Giedré Beinoriüté, two neighbouring children develop a friendship that can neither be harmed by apartment walls, nor by their parents. The Latvian “Little Robbers” by Armands Zvirbulis are a lot of fun: a children’s film on occasion of the crisis.