Documentary
In Bettina Büttner’s exquisitely lucid documentary Kinder (Kids), childhood dysfunction, loneliness, and pent-up emotion run wild at an all-boys group home in southern Germany. The children interned here include ten-year-olds Marvin and Tommy. Marvin, fiddling with a mini plastic Lego sword, explains matter-of-factly to the camera, “This is a knife. You use it to cut stomachs open.” Dennis, who is even younger, is seen in a hysteric fit, mimicking some pornographic scene. Boys will be boys, but innocence is disproportionately spare here. Choosing not to dwell on the harsh specifics, Büttner reveals the disconcerting manner in which traumatic episodes can manifest themselves in the mundane — a game of Lego, Hide and Seek, or Truth or Dare. Filmed in lapidary black-and-white, Büttner’s fascinating film sheds light on childhood from the boys’ characteristically disadvantaged perspective — one not yet fully cognizant — leaving much ethically to ponder over.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Extravíos
México, México: Mexique en mouvement
Acts of Violence
Spellbound
Changes
Detection
The Betrayal by Technology: A Portrait of Jacques Ellul
Varicella
Mara
virar mar / meer werden / becoming sea
Byker Community
Africa Light / Gray Zone
Mad Hot Ballroom
Germany in Autumn
Tokio - Generalprobe für das Reich der Alten
Before the Flood
Guys 'N Divas: Battle of the High School Musicals
Lorsque le soleil se lèvera à l'ouest
Shelley in Wonderland
Sisterhood
SIMILAR MOVIES
Extravíos
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2010
México, México: Mexique en mouvement
IMDB 0 | Dec , 1968
"Mexico begins where the roads end ”. Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes tells us about the history of Mexico: its invasions, its revolutions, its sacred lands, its forgotten legends, its religious rituals and this frightening misery. François Reichenbach and his camera sink into the dust, on this sacred land, where "the land never ends."Acts of Violence
IMDB 6 | Jan , 1985
A riveting expose about the personalities of murderers and their motives. This 72 minute film covers the McDonalds' restaurant massacre, President Reagan's assassination attempt, serial murderer Henry Lee Lucas and others.Spellbound
IMDB 7.3 | Mar , 2002
This documentary follows 8 teens and pre-teens as they work their way toward the finals of the Scripps Howard national spelling bee championship in Washington D.C.Changes
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2007
Tímamót, or Changes in English. An upbeat, heartwarming story about Gudjon, Sigurbjorn and Steinthor who lived together for decades along with several other inhabitants in the Tjaldanes Institution, in a peaceful valley close to Reykjavik. When a decision is made to close down the institution, their life takes an unexpected turn and they discover a new side to life and to themselves.Detection
IMDB 5.2 | Dec , 2012
DETECTION. Consideration of past, present and future of a small village in Germany. For over a century — wars and states went by — the military is the largest employer. The everyday life of the community is inextricably linked to the events on the nearby military training area. Diaries, daily instructions, petitions, letters and photos tell about daily life at different times.The Betrayal by Technology: A Portrait of Jacques Ellul
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1992
A portrait of Jacques Ellul, a French theologian/sociologist & anarchist who first became well-known to American readers with the English publishing of his book The Technological Society in 1964. For Ellul, technique represented an entire way of life characterized by life fragmented so that efficiency ultimately rules over all ethical decisions. Ellul warned that technique was having drastic effects on all aspects of modern life. Many Green Anarchists have cited Ellul's work on technique as influential on their thought.Varicella
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2015
Seven-year-old Polina and her 13-year-old sister Nastia live and breathe ballet. Both of them are studying at the Boris Eifman Dance Academy in frigid Saint Petersburg. They’re currently awaiting their grades to find out if they’ve done well enough to be promoted to the next year, with Nastia lovingly guiding he little sister through the process. But in the meantime, Nastia also has to deal with the high demands that the academy places on its students. The gorgeously styled shots are sometimes calm, even clinical, and sometimes warm, lively and funny.Mara
IMDB 10 | Jan , 2022
It’s 2020 and Minsk, the capital city of Belarus, is overflowing with anti-government protests. A dreamy figure – Mara – takes us on a journey alongside the protesting crowds. Mara’s symbolic presence is a stark contrast to the harsh reality of the street. There is a determination to Mara, but also a fragility – as if her persona reflects the collective mental state of the protesters witnessing their dream for freedom turn into a nightmare.virar mar / meer werden / becoming sea
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2020
Water as a physical and metaphysical metaphor and background of human existence. A docu-fictional essay between the Brazilian Sertão-deserts and the Northern-German flood areas of Dithmarschen. Dramas and day-by-day-observations in times of climate change.Byker Community
IMDB 10 | Oct , 2024
This documentary is about the Byker Community Centre. This centre was built in 1928. During the great depression, it helped a lot for the local people. In modern days, we have plenty of other problems, such as food waste, poverty, and isolation. This centre fights with all of that. Also, it invites all people, despite their disabilities, social groups, age, and gender and provides help and activities. This place is magical and hospitable.Africa Light / Gray Zone
IMDB 5.5 | Jan , 2010
"Africa Light" - as white local citizens call Namibia. The name suggests romance, the beauty of nature and promises a life without any problems in a country where the difference between rich and poor could hardly be greater. Namibia does not give that impression of it. If you look at its surface it seems like Africa in its most innocent and civilized form. It is a country that is so inviting to dream by its spectacular landscape, stunning scenery and fascinating wildlife. It has a very strong tourism structure and the government gets a lot of money with its magical attraction. But despite its grandiose splendor it is an endless gray zone as well. It oscillates between tradition and modernity, between the cattle in the country and the slums in the city. It shuttles from colonial times, land property reform to minimum wage for everyone. It fluctuates between socialism and cold calculated market economy.Mad Hot Ballroom
IMDB 6.9 | May , 2005
Eleven-year-old New York City public school kids journey into the world of ballroom dancing and reveal pieces of themselves and their world along the way. Told from their candid, sometimes humorous perspectives, these kids are transformed, from reluctant participants to determined competitors, from typical urban kids to "ladies and gentlemen," on their way to try to compete in the final citywide competition.Germany in Autumn
IMDB 6.3 | Mar , 1978
Germany in Autumn does not have a plot per se; it mixes documentary footage, along with standard movie scenes, to give the audience the mood of Germany during the late 1970s. The movie covers the two month time period during 1977 when a businessman was kidnapped, and later murdered, by the left-wing terrorists known as the RAF-Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Fraction). The businessman had been kidnapped in an effort to secure the release of the orginal leaders of the RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang. When the kidnapping effort and a plane hijacking effort failed, the three most prominent leaders of the RAF, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe, all committed suicide in prison. It has become an article of faith within the left-wing community that these three were actually murdered by the state.Tokio - Generalprobe für das Reich der Alten
IMDB 0 | Jul , 2020
Before the Flood
IMDB 7.7 | Oct , 2016
A look at how climate change affects our environment and what society can do to prevent the demise of endangered species, ecosystems, and native communities across the planet.Guys 'N Divas: Battle of the High School Musicals
IMDB 5 | Jan , 2009
This fascinating documentary chronicles the intense rivalry between high schools in Southern Indiana to win a prestigious festival performance with lavish student musical productions that often cost in the tens of thousands of dollars to produce.Lorsque le soleil se lèvera à l'ouest
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2024
Shelley in Wonderland
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2021
Shelley is a timid elderly lady who is competing in the Miss Senior USA pageant. Immersion in an extravagant world that also touches on the universal need for visibility, beauty and being included.Sisterhood
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2021
Filmmaker Sophie Dros enters into a dialogue with strong women in a powerfull document about being a woman in the Netherlands today. Inspired by Simone de Beauvoir's essay The second sex, filmmaker Sophie Dros (winner of the NFF Debut Competition 2017) talks to four women and a group of young girls. Together they go in search of universal stories; about dealing with expectations, empathy and connection, desires, fear, need for confirmation and losing control.