A film dealing with the dilemmas facing young people at a critical stage of life. As opposed to coming-of-age dramas, which focus of the difficulty of adolescence, childhood dramas generally focus on protagonists under 12 years of age. Often these films depict childhood as turbulent confusing times when kids struggle to understand the world's harsh lessons. Reality, parents, other children and grownups are often seen through a child's eyes, so that elements of magic, fear and wonder become visual and aesthetic touches -- and these elements that would be questioned in adult drama, here are accepted as legitimate. American films of this form frequently differ from their foreign counterparts, as they are more straightforward and linear, sometimes using the frame of an adult looking back on his or her life and containing touches of nostalgia and melodrama. Examples include Stand By Me, Mommie Dearest, The Champ, Shane, Searching for Bobby Fisher, and Fresh. Foreign depictions of childhood are usually more structurally experimental and use heavier doses of magic and fantasy to warp point of view and the narrative. They also are darker, less nostalgic and more representative of actual childhood problems. Examples include Au Revoir les Enfants, Ma Vie en Rose, Leolo, Kolya, Toto the Hero, The Tin Drum, The Butcher Boy, Pixote, The White Balloon, Village of Dreams, Shanghai Triad, Fanny and Alexander and My Life as a Dog. Also see coming-of-age and family drama.

Featured Films:

Rating	MPAA	Year	Title
	PG13	2008	The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
	R	2008	Gardens of the Night
	NR	2008	Canary
	NR	2008	Treeless Mountain
	PG	2008	A Plumm Summer
	R	2008	Sleepwalking
		2007	Flight of the Red Balloon
	R	2007	Hounddog
	PG13	2007	Son of Rambow
	NR	2007	Chop Shop
	PG13	2007	Phoebe in Wonderland
	PG	2007	August Rush
	PG13	2007	Under the Same Moon
	PG13	2006	Miriam
	PG	2006	Akeelah and the Bee
	PG	2005	Because of Winn-Dixie
	R	2005	Tideland
	R	2005	Fateless
	PG13	2005	The Italian
		2005	Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story
	R	2005	12 and Holding
	PG13	2005	Oliver Twist
		2005	Melinda's World
		2005	Eve and the Fire Horse
		2005	A Díos Momo
	PG	2004	Millions
		2004	Kral Zlodeju
	R	2004	The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things
		2004	Turtles Can Fly
	PG	2004	I Am David
		2004	Demi-Tarif
	PG13	2004	Nobody Knows
		2004	Electric Shadows
		2004	Bustin' Bonaparte
		2003	The Butterfly
	PG	2003	Secondhand Lions
		2003	Magnifico
	G	2003	The Adventures of Ociee Nash
	PG13	2003	Off the Map
	R	2003	I'm Not Scared
	PG13	2003	Osama
	PG13	2003	Carry Me Home
	PG	2002	Stolen Summer
		2002	Matir Moina
	PG13	2002	In America
	PG	2002	The Way Home
		2002	Kamchatka
		2002	Pollyanna
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