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Wherever you do it, growing up tends to look the same. Awkward friendships, arguments with your parents you were never going to win and the slow work of figuring out who you are.
In September, the month of National Youth Day, Bangkok City Library joins Doc Club, the programme 'What? Documentary' and Locals ThaiPBS to put some of that on screen. This edition of 'Doc Day Afternoon' brings together a pair of short films from very different countries under the theme 'Growing Up'.
First up is CHEMKIDS (Germany, 2022), a 27-minute film from director Julius Gintaras Blum. It follows a group of teenagers in Chemnitz, a former industrial city in East Germany, as they reach adulthood in a world full of options while working out how to talk to parents who grew up under a completely different system. It has already screened at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival.
TRAIN ROBBERS (Norway, 2019), a 21-minute documentary from Martin A. Walther, rewinds to Trondheim in the mid-1990s. It tells the story of a handful of kids aged 11–15 who never quite fit in at school or on their football teams and band together for one small act of rebellion, nicking beer and soft drinks from passing freight trains. It's a portrait of friendship, mischief and the loneliness of an age spent looking for your own place.
When the credits roll, stick around for a conversation with Thicha Nanakorn, director of the Ban Kanchanapisek Juvenile Training Center, who works day to day in youth rehabilitation and backs understanding and second chances over punishment.
Both films screen with Thai subtitles in the screening room at Bangkok City Library on Friday, September 4 at 4pm. Entry is free, though just 30 seats are going, so register here now.