Films for Children and Teens
This is probably the trickiest category because some of the best children's movies are loved by adults as well. Pixar animations or Wes Anderson's "Isle of Dogs" are cherished by children and adults alike.
But there are - as in most countries - formal criteria to determine whether a movie is suitable for a child and from what age it could be watched. In Germany it is the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft (FSK) (voluntary self-regulation of the movie industry) which decides the age limit. 300 experts watch all new movies and measure them against the criteria of the German Youth Protection Act. They then allocate an age limit with a colour scheme: no age restriction (white), suitable for six-year-olds or older (yellow) - twelve-year-olds or older, or in the presence of an adult (green) - suitable for 16-year-olds or older (blue) - suitable for 18-year-olds or older (red). You can find the coloured sticker of the FSK indicating age limits according to German standards on film posters, DVDs, movie descriptions on Wikipedia and of course in our eLibrary Onleihe.
In this compilation of films for children and teens we tried to showcase different genres and subjects which cater to the interests of a diverse audience. Good news for all who have just finished the course B1: the German spoken in these movies is easier to understand than that of movies for adults. So be brave and watch without subtitles.
Die Blindgänger
Flussfahrt mit Huhn (Director's Cut)
Der Grüffelo
Janosch – Komm, wir finden einen Schatz
Das kalte Herz/Heart of Stone (with English subtitles)
Das kleine Gespenst
Die kleine Zauberflöte
Molly Monster
Der Mondmann
(>> Version with english subtitles)
Offline – Das Leben ist kein Bonuslevel
Quarks & Co: Käfer, Hummeln, Schmetterlinge: Sterben die Insekten aus?
Quarks & Co – wer braucht eigentlich die EU
Rettet Raffi!
Rock my heart – mein wildes Herz
Sputnik
Westwind (with English subtitles)
Wintertochter
(>> VErsion with English subtitles)
Erich Kästner: For Young and Adult Children
Erich Kästner is one of the most popular German-speaking children's authors of the 20th century. His books were the subject of a multitude of German and international films. Children in his books and subsequently in his movies fight against the injustice and hardship of the adult world. Although they are very young they find solutions where more mature people have already failed. Kästner also wrote about adults but his favourite protagonists were people who,up totheir old age, preserved their sense of childlike ingeniousness and maintained a curious view of the world.