We may no longer wrap up DVDs as Christmas presents for children, but it’s still possible to gift our loved ones recommendations. Just as a music playlist signals a special relationship, a thoughtful film recommendation can provide a timely and inexpensive way of showing empathy and understanding.
There can be little doubt that the children in our lives need all the solidarity we, as friends and family, can give them in these troubled times. To develop an interest in new and unfamiliar films, children need the same sort of encouragement we usually associate with books.
Many children will see through the sheen of the annual Christmas feel-good films this year and may need something more than slap-stick and sentiment. Most importantly, children need to see themselves in the films they watch, and this is not always easy for at least 50 per cent of the population.
The children’s media industry used to be dominated by the assumption that whilst girls would happily watch boys as main characters, boys would turn off anything featuring girls. This deeply troubling view has been contradicted many times over, but perhaps it took the popularity of the television series ‘The Story of Tracy Beaker’ to finally put the idea to rest in the UK.
All the same, the number of children’s films made featuring girls in central roles is still limited. Where they do appear, stereotypes are often rife and female friendship is rare. All too often girls are only secondary characters who help advance the narrative which focuses on a male lead.
Recently, however, in countries with ring-fenced funding for children’s films, girls have been stepping outside the tropes of the bossy sister, tomboy or love interest and becoming the centre of the story. This list of 12 recent films for children, featuring girls (and just because they feature girls, does not mean these films are exclusively for girls), is not a list of most popular girls’ films, an ode to girl power, or indeed about girls with magical powers. Rather, it is a list of delightful children’s films about girls and from girls’ perspectives that could, and should, be enjoyed by children, young people and their families everywhere. So watch something new this Christmas, and experience the world from a whole new perspective.
- A Field Guide to Being a 12-Year Old Girl (2017), Director: Tilda Cobham-Hervey
This is a documentary short film about 12-year-old Australian girls, made by 12-year-old girls, for 12-year-old girls, or anyone that has been a 12-year-old girl, or will be a 12-year-old girl, or wishes they were a 12-year-old girl. Twelve 12-year-old girls give a confident performance about who they are and what they think, feel and want to change about the world.
Suitable for ages 9 and above, episodes from the film are available at the Australian Children's Television Foundation.
- Antigone (2019), Director: Sophie Deraspe
In this compelling reworking, the uncompromising Antigone (Nahéma Ricci) and her family are permanent residents in Canada, but their lack of citizenship puts them in danger when her brother gets in trouble with the law.
Deraspe’s film highlights the inequality of the legal system rather than the role of fate, but adheres to the powerful notion of standing up for what you feel is right, even when there are easier and happier options. Despite success at the Toronto International Film Festival and due to lockdown, Antigone has not yet been released in cinemas in the UK, so watch out for a release on one of the on-demand services.
Suitable for ages 12 and above.
- Arietty (2011), Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
In their adaptation of Mary Norton’s The Borrowers, Studio Ghibli artfully illustrate its understanding of the appeal of the miniature. Borrower, Arrietty is a clever and resourceful heroine who is discovered by Sho, a human boy. Their friendship proves to be a threat to the lives of the Borrowers; a challenge Arietty must resolve.
Suitable for ages 7 and above, is it available to watch on Netflix.
- Binti (2019), Director: Frederike Migom
Twelve-year-old Binti was born in the Congo but has lived in Belgium since she was a baby. Despite not having any legal documents, Binti wants to live a normal life, and dreams of becoming a famous vlogger like her idol Tatyana. To make this happen, Binti embarks on a new friendship and a parental matchmaking plot. The delightful Binti won the award for best European Children’s Feature film in 2020.
Suitable for ages 8 and above, it is available to watch here.
- Elina: As if I did not exist (2002), Director: Klaus Härö
Elina is a little girl, who belongs to the Finnish-speaking minority in Sweden. She is not allowed to use her mother tongue, but she fights for her Finnish identity. Her teacher tries to force her to speak perfect Swedish, but Elina flees to the hazards of the marshlands to talk to her much-loved and recently-lost father. This multi award-winning film has not yet been released in the UK, either in cinemas or for on-demand, but I am including it here because it should be!
Suitable for ages 9 and above.
- Fritzi (2019), Directors: Ralf Kukula and Matthias Bruhn
Fritzi is an animated, co-produced Belgian, Luxembourg and German animation with a screenplay written by Beate Völcker. In East Germany in 1989, 12-year-old Fritzi is in charge of her best friend Sophie’s dog Sputnik, while she spends the summer in Hungary. When Sophie doesn’t return, Fritzi is determined to find her and her plan leads her into the heart of the demonstrations in Leipzig and towards the heavily-guarded border. The deceptively simple animated style brings Fritzi’s political awakening to life, providing the audience with the chance to see the cold war from the perspective of a young girl and her friends.
Suitable for ages 9 and above. News about the release of the film should be available very soon.
- Little Big Girl (2002), Director: Morten Køhlert
Set in Denmark 1850, the film features Tinke, a nine-year-old orphan who has been living in the wild but dreams of finding her estranged rich grandparents. Inspired by the book The Famished Child by Cecil Bodker, Tinke proves to be a very strong little girl who defends her ideas and objectives in life with the help of Larus, a shepherd lad. She has not got “good manners”, but she does have an incredible determination which succeeds against the adult world. Released in Sweden at the same time as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, this film won international awards and achieved popular success. Eighteen years on and we are still awaiting a release in the UK, but the film is available on DVD.
Suitable for ages 9 and above.
- The Sisters: The Year We Found Our Super Powers (2019) Directors: Silje Salomonsen, and Arild Østin Ommundsen.
This Norweigan film tells the story of Vega and her irrepressible younger sister Billie, who never follows the Lego instructions. When Dad has a fall on a camping trip, the girls need to get help but instead get lost. This is a film about the bonds that sisters form in adversity. It is beautifully directed; so much so that you can forget at times that what you are watching is acting. The children make the natural environment their playground and the rescue reminds us that you can never have enough unicorn-related merchandise. Either that, or the power of imagination and serendipity! Although this is a recent film, it is being released in cinemas internationally. In the UK, your best chance of seeing it in the short-term may beat the Leeds Young Film Festival next year.
Suitable for ages 7 and above.
- SupaModo (2018), Director: Likarion Wainaina
In the Kenyan film Supa Modo, nine-year-old Jo is diagnosed with a terminal illness, leaving her family and community heartbroken. Films, and especially superhero films, are Jo’s obsession and inspire her sister Mwix to involve the entire village to create scenarios where Jo can be the superhero that saves the day. Despite the sad and inevitable ending, this film is about Jo’s irrepressibility and the importance of honesty in dealing with the most difficult news. Jo, played by Stycie Waweru, eventually leads the village herself in a film project which will forever celebrate ingenuity and the power of film.
For ages 9 and above, available at Into Film.
- Up in the Sky (2016), Director: Petter Lennstrand
Pottan is supposed to be spending her holidays at a pony farm, but her parents, who are always busy, end up leaving their daughter at a recycling yard by mistake. The residents of the yard decide to take care of her and she becomes part of a secret space mission. In this quirky film, combining puppetry with live action, it is easy to suspend our disbelief and follow this enterprising eight-year-old up in the sky.
Suitable for ages 7 and above, available at Mubi.
- Wadjda (2012), Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour
The first-ever film by a female Saudi Arabian director is about an independent-minded ten-year-old named Wadjda, who won't be pushed around. Adults tell her not to ride a bike because ‘it will stop her having babies’ but Wadjda always finds solutions to her problems and shows the world a thing or two about what girls can and can't do. This multi award-winning film is a story of bravery, emancipation and entrepreneurialism.
Suitable for ages 9 and above, available at Netflix and Mubi.
- When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Based (2019), Director: Caroline Link
I am still optimistic that this Oscar-nominated German adaptation of a semi-autobiographical book by author Judith Kerr will be available on-demand over the seasonal holidays. The story follows Anna and her Jewish family as they flee Berlin on the eve of the election in 1933 and journey through Europe to safety. Against the backdrop of major upheaval and dreadful world events, Anna and family try to live their usual everyday lives experiencing the small pleasures of childhood. We see her emerging sense of self as a writer and artist and the acts of determination and kindness which protect her from a loss of hope.
Suitable for ages 8 and above.
In developing this list, you will see I have included films which are not readily available in the UK and this might be frustrating. But there are so many brilliant films for children which never reach their audience - not least because, no matter how good they are, it is assumed that children won’t watch subtitled films so they are not distributed.
Meanwhile very few, if any, British films for children are made. It’s time for the leading film educators in the UK, the British Film Institute and Into Film, to look carefully at the films for children that are made and distributed in the UK and to examine how support for the UK children’s film industry might also ensure that girls are at least as well served as boys by the films they can access. In the meantime, like the favourite aunt I like to imagine myself as, I offer this list and very happy and hygge holidays.
Find out more about Dr Becky Parry's research at the University of Sheffield's School of Education.