Back to School
As the academic year begins for students around the globe, education looks different than it did just last year. Indulge in some nostalgia for what school used to be with these films from a pre-pandemic world.
School Life
(La Vie Scolaire)
A novice teacher arrives from the French countryside to work at a middle school in the troubled Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2019
- Director Mehdi Idir
- Cast Zita Hanrot, Liam Pierron, Soufiane Guerrab, Moussa Mansaly, Alban Ivanov
- Genre Drama, Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
A Paris Education
(Mes provinciales)
An impressionable film student tries to find his own voice in the vibrant, but sometimes suffocating, Sorbonne environment.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2018
- Director Jean-Paul Civeyrac
- Cast Andranic Manet, Corentin Fila, Gonzague Van Bervesseles, Diane Rouxel, Jenna Thiam, Nicolas Bouchaud
- Genre Drama
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Pin Cushion
When you're destined to stand out, change doesn't come so easily.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2018
- Director Deborah Haywood
- Cast Joanna Scanlan, Lily Newmark, John Henshaw, Chanel Cresswell, Isy Suttie, Nadine Coyle
- Genre Drama
- Available on fuboTV, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Crackle, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
Secret Superstar
(सीक्रेट सुपरस्टार)
In order to save her mother from her abusive father, this young singer-songwriter might have to sacrifice everything.
- India • 2017
- Director Advait Chandan
- Cast Zaira Wasim, Aamir Khan, Meher Vij, Raj Arjun, Tirth Sharma, Monali Thakur
- Genre Drama, Music
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Morris from America
The romantic, coming-of-age misadventures of a 13-year-old American who just relocated to Germany with his single father.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, United States • 2016
- Director Chad Hartigan
- Cast Markees Christmas, Craig Robinson, Lina Keller, Carla Juri, Jakub Gierszał
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy
Sing Street
Boy meets girl. Girl unimpressed. Boy starts band.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United Kingdom, United States • 2016
- Director John Carney
- Cast Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Aidan Gillen, Jack Reynor, Kelly Thornton
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
- Available on Netflix, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Sing Street
Boy meets girl. Girl unimpressed. Boy starts band.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United Kingdom, United States • 2016
- Director John Carney
- Cast Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Aidan Gillen, Jack Reynor, Kelly Thornton
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
- Available on Netflix, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
My Golden Days
(Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse)
Life is a puzzle. Love is all of the prettiest pieces. Memory is trying to figure it all out.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2015
- Director Arnaud Desplechin
- Cast Mathieu Amalric, Lou Roy-Lecollinet, Quentin Dolmaire, Léonard Matton, Dinara Drukarova
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, VUDU Free, Freevee, DistroTV, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
The Falling
A mysterious fainting epidemic takes over an English girls' school just as the girls are starting to explore their sexualities.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2015
- Director Carol Morley
- Cast Maisie Williams, Maxine Peake, Monica Dolan, Greta Scacchi, Mathew Baynton, Florence Pugh
- Genre Drama, Mystery
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Fandor Amazon Channel, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Midnight Pulp, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Crackle, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, VUDU Free, Freevee, Cineverse, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Dancing Arabs
A young Palestinian boy becomes the first and only Arab boy accepted into a prestigious Jewish boarding school in Jerusalem.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Israel, Germany, France • 2014
- Director Eran Riklis
- Cast Tawfeek Barhom, Ali Suliman, Yaël Abecassis, Laëtitia Eïdo
- Genre Drama
- Available on Chai Flicks, Strand Releasing Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
The Way He Looks
(Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho)
Not every love happens at first sight.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2014
- Director Daniel Ribeiro
- Cast Ghilherme Lobo, Fábio Audi, Tess Amorim, Lúcia Romano, Eucir de Souza, Selma Egrei
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Strand Releasing Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Monsieur Lazhar
An elementary school class is left reeling after their teacher dies by suicide—until the substitute arrives…
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada • 2011
- Director Philippe Falardeau
- Cast Mohamed Fellag, Émilien Néron, Danielle Proulx, Sophie Nélisse, Marie-Ève Beauregard, Denise Lamontagne
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Fandor Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, Crackle, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Monsieur Lazhar
An elementary school class is left reeling after their teacher dies by suicide—until the substitute arrives…
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada • 2011
- Director Philippe Falardeau
- Cast Mohamed Fellag, Émilien Néron, Danielle Proulx, Sophie Nélisse, Marie-Ève Beauregard, Denise Lamontagne
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Fandor Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, Crackle, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Submarine
Off-beat 15-year-old Welsh schoolboy Oliver Tate struggles to maintain a relationship with Jordana, his devilish classmate at their Swansea high school.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2011
- Director Richard Ayoade
- Cast Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Sally Hawkins, Noah Taylor, Paddy Considine, Darren Evans
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Freevee, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
An Education
An education isn't always by the book.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2009
- Director Lone Scherfig
- Cast Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Olivia Williams, Alfred Molina
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Class
(Entre les murs)
Based on his real life, a teacher must deal with the challenging dynamics of his multicultural classroom.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2008
- Director Laurent Cantet
- Cast François Bégaudeau, Franck Keïta, Louise Grinberg, Rabah Nait Oufella, Esmeralda Ouertani, Rachel Regulier
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Like Stars on Earth
(Taare Zameen Par)
Thoughtful, but unable to fit in, Ishaan's life changes when he meets Ram Shankar Nikumbh, his new art teacher.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 2007
- Director Aamir Khan
- Cast Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma, Tanay Chheda, Sachet Engineer
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The History Boys
A class of bright and funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school pursue undergraduate spots at Oxford or Cambridge.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2006
- Director Nicholas Hytner
- Cast Samuel Anderson, Dominic Cooper, James Corden, Richard Griffiths, Samuel Barnett, Russell Tovey
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Apple TV
Machuca
Two schoolboys observe a political coup in their native Chile.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Chile, Spain, United Kingdom • 2004
- Director Andrés Wood
- Cast Matías Quer, Ariel Mateluna, Aline Küppenheim, Ernesto Malbran, Federico Luppi, Manuela Martelli
- Genre Drama
- Available on Fandor, Kanopy
Machuca
Two schoolboys observe a political coup in their native Chile.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Chile, Spain, United Kingdom • 2004
- Director Andrés Wood
- Cast Matías Quer, Ariel Mateluna, Aline Küppenheim, Ernesto Malbran, Federico Luppi, Manuela Martelli
- Genre Drama
- Available on Fandor, Kanopy
The Dreamers
Together nothing is impossible. Together nothing is forbidden.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, France, Italy • 2003
- Director Bernardo Bertolucci
- Cast Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel, Anna Chancellor, Robin Renucci, Jean-Pierre Kalfon
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
To Be and to Have
(Être et avoir)
A passionate school teacher forges a warm and unique classroom community in rural France.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2002
- Director Nicolas Philibert
- Cast Georges Lopez
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Kanopy, Hoopla
A Brighter Summer Day
(牯嶺街少年殺人事件)
A colorful coming of age odyssey set against the backdrop of 1960s Taiwan.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Taiwan • 1991
- Director Edward Yang
- Cast Chang Chen, Lisa Yang, Elaine Jin, Chen Shiang-Chyi
- Genre Crime, Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
A Brighter Summer Day
(牯嶺街少年殺人事件)
A colorful coming of age odyssey set against the backdrop of 1960s Taiwan.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Taiwan • 1991
- Director Edward Yang
- Cast Chang Chen, Lisa Yang, Elaine Jin, Chen Shiang-Chyi
- Genre Crime, Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
The 400 Blows
(Les Quatre Cents Coups)
The story of a misunderstood adolescent boy growing up in Paris.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1959
- Director François Truffaut
- Cast Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Rémy, Georges Flamant, Patrick Auffay, Robert Beauvais
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy