The Defender of Sitting Ducks

In the suburbs of Tokyo, a group of six girls have played together at the park since they were little, but eventually have to switch schools. Before they leave, they plan to make a time capsule, but are unable to do so. The story follows the girls four years later as they meet again.

Two freethinking teenagers - a boy and a girl - confront with authoritarian teachers in their boarding schools. The other students treat this differently.

K is a senior high, the tutoring class every once a week is the most private time to her. Her tutor teacher, Xian-xian, is a college student focusing on English Literature. During the class, Xian-xian helps K to make progress in reading comprehension, and unintentionally leads K to discover her inner-self.

Young teenager Sofia is entering the difficult world of high school. Her perspective of her world changes when she meets the exciting and mysterious Ruth, who changes everything.

Singer is a deaf-mute whose small world brings him in contact with a young girl, Mick, who cherishes a seemingly hopeless dream of becoming a concert pianist. At first hostile, Mick soon becomes friends with Singer, hoping to enlarge his small world. Three other central characters come to Singer for help also, each of them seeing in him a powerful force.

As a fan of Albert Camus and Jean-Luc Godard, teenage Nick Twisp is definitely out of his element when his mother and her boyfriend move the family to a trailer park. When a pretty neighbor named Sheeni plays records by French crooners, it's love at first sight for frustrated and inexperienced Nick. Learning that she is dating someone, Nick launches a hilarious quest to find his way into Sheeni's heart -- and bed.

Panchos

Kickers is a coming-of-age film about Natasha, and her attempts in salvaging a decaying friendship with her childhood buddy. As life gets in its way, priorities change, and paths diverge. The film tugs at the wistfulness of teenagehood and the inevitability of growing up and letting go.

Whether it's playing games in a military zone, cheating at school tests, crossing borders for cheap thrills or doing whatever it takes to make illicit money - these boys know that with every risk, they move closer and closer to an irreversible jeopardy. Deftly exploring masculinity and peer-pressure, these five coming-of-age tales from France, the Netherlands and Lithuania from burgeoning new filmmakers demonstrate that sometimes young hearts can run dangerously free. The short films are: Gotta (2015); The Last Day of School (2019); Tree House [Cabane] (2016); Gameboy (2014); Pollux (2018).

Elise (16) is home alone after yet another fight with her parents. Infuriated she starts throwing things around - when suddenly she hears a large bang coming from the street. There's been an accident. A young man lies motionless on the pavement next to his moped. He's surrounded by three other guys. One of them looks up and catches Elise staring at him. Moments later the door phone rings. It's him. Could he come up and call an ambulance? Something about him intrigues her. She lets him in. While he calls for help, another guy appears. A struggle for power in the apartment begins that will teach Elise a few things about herself.

It's Friday night and five friends on the cusp of adulthood gather at a house to celebrate the end of another school week. They drink. They flirt. They laugh. They shoot the breeze. As the night grows later, the teens reach a state of alcohol-induced openness. They reveal secrets, crushes and an unintentionally cruel streak.

This is the story of a day in the life of Mani, a 12 year old boy, who is in love with his family's personal driver, whom he finds out is having a secret affair with his mother.

Thomas Harrison is determined to start his own alternative band after the suicide of Kurt Cobain—it's an obsession that blinds him to what's either the mental collapse, or the eruption of musical genius, of his little sister, Bridget. Bridget boldly rejects her brother's music, and the music of an entire generation of slackers, by taking on the persona of a gangsta' rapper.

Ben-David chases after his elusive first kiss, but he may have to break his mother's trust to get it.

On a historical grave site, a teenage girl with low self-esteem, a white rapper, and the ghost of a confederate soldier become entangled in a love triangle.

One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbor Harry, which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. As a relationship develops between them, Adam is preoccupied with memories of the past and finds himself drawn back to the suburban town where he grew up, and the childhood home where his parents appear to be living, just as they were on the day they died, 30 years before.

Portrait of a Knight is a musical romance about the way in which historic ideals inform contemporary urban life. Rachel is a young archivist living and working in Wellington, New Zealand. Feeling alone and disconnected from life, she projects her romantic fantasies onto the paintings she loves, until one day her song brings Reginald - a Knight of the Realm - to life. His carefree innocence and zest for life begin to open Rachel up to the beauty around her, but the fates have a way of making trouble when miracles occur...

Vanessa is back in her hometown for the summer after moving away for college. Things get complicated when her friendship with Claire turns into a summer fling.

Tom and Ellis, 15 years old, have been friends forever. They spend their summer fishing at sea. One day, they meet Lucie who came to their village on holiday. As days go by, they grow more intimate.

A socially awkward girl uses the local swimming pool as a wormhole into fantasy. She dives underwater where she imagines herself as a marine creature, alternately graceful and predatory. (As described by Simon Sellars, 2008) Created as part of the SBS series "Swim Between the Flags" in 2002.