Category:Children--2000s (film subject)

Children--2000s (film subject)

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Billy Elliot (2000)
The Little Vampire (2000)
The Others (2001)
The Devil's Backbone (2001)
I Am Sam (2001)
Io non ho paura (2003)
Millions (2004)
Finding Neverland (2004)
Boy Called Twist (2004)
Nobody Knows (2004)
Fateless (2005)
The Italian (2005)
Live and Become (2005)
Oliver Twist (2007)
'Son of Rambow (2007)
Like Stars on Earth (2007)
The Last Legion (2007)

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2000

January 21, 2000 (Sundance Film Festival) / November 10, 2000 (US Limited Release) / November 17, 2000 (US Wide Expansion) -- You Can Count on Me (Lonergan), film -- Rory Culkin -- An award-winning and critically acclaimed masterpiece of American independent cinema that explores blood ties and inherited trauma. At just eleven years old, young Rory Culkin (Macaulay's younger brother) delivers a performance of extraordinary and quiet psychological delicacy as Rudy Prescott, the son of a protective single mother (Laura Linney). The boy's peaceful routine is happily disrupted by the arrival of his eccentric and drifting uncle Terry (Mark Ruffalo): Culkin commands the screen in portraying the birth of a deep, visceral mentor-student relationship with his uncle, serving as the perfect emotional anchor in a story steeped in dignity and domestic truth.

May 19, 2000 (Cannes Film Festival World Premiere) / September 29, 2000 (UK Theatrical Release) -- Billy Elliot (Daldry), film -- Jamie Bell -- A monumental and multi-award-winning triumph of British cinema that defined an era. At the absolute debut age of thirteen, Jamie Bell delivers a legendary and tour-de-force performance as Billy, an eleven-year-old boy growing up in a harsh mining community in Northern England during the historic 1984 miners' strikes. Forced by his widowed father to take up boxing, the young boy accidentally discovers a ballet class: Bell dominates the screen with an astonishing physical and emotional presence alongside breathtaking dance talent, beautifully embodying the struggle against rigid gender stereotypes and social prejudices to pursue his true calling.

August 18, 2000 (Edinburgh Film Festival Premiere) / October 27, 2000 (US Theatrical Release) -- The Little Vampire (Edel), film -- Jonathan Lipnicki & Rollo Weeks -- A delightful, quirky, and brilliant horror-fantasy comedy for children, internationally co-produced and based on the famous book series by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg. Child star Jonathan Lipnicki plays Tony Thompson, a nine-year-old American boy who moves with his parents to an isolated and foggy castle in Scotland, suffering from deep loneliness and bizarre nightmares. His life changes completely when he meets Rudolph (Rollo Weeks), a small, vegetarian vampire from the Elizabethan era: the two strike up a hilarious and deep childhood friendship, joining forces to retrieve a magic amulet and escape a fierce vampire hunter equipped with high-tech gadgets.

October 20, 2000 (Spain Theatrical Release) -- El Bola [Pellet] (Mañas), film -- Juan José Ballesta & Pablo Galán -- A raw, visceral, and incredibly powerful pillar of Spanish neorealist cinema, winner of four Goya Awards (including Best Film). Twelve-year-old Juan José Ballesta delivers a stunning and heartbreaking cinematic debut as Pablo, nicknamed "El Bola" ("Pellet") after the steel ball bearing he carries everywhere as a good luck charm. Behind his tough street exterior lies a terrifying reality: regular, brutal abuse inflicted by his authoritarian father. Pablo's isolated world shifts when he befriends a new classmate, Alfredo. Witnessing the warm, nurturing, and unconventional dynamic of Alfredo's family exposes Pablo to a life free from fear, ultimately giving him the immense courage needed to confront his own tragic reality and break the cycle of silence.

2001

April 20, 2001 (Spain Theatrical Release) -- The Devil's Backbone [El espinazo del diablo] (Del Toro), film -- Fernando Tielve & Íñigo Garcés -- An absolute masterpiece of international gothic horror cinema, directed with the extraordinary and poetic visual sensitivity of Guillermo del Toro. Making his absolute cinematic debut, a superb Fernando Tielve delivers a highly intense performance as Carlos, a ten-year-old orphan who, during the final stages of the Spanish Civil War, is sent to the isolated Santa Lucía orphanage. Alongside the school bully, Jaime (Íñigo Garcés), the young boy finds himself coexisting with the shattered dreams of the Republican militia and the ghost of Santi—a child mysteriously murdered on the night a bomb was dropped but remained unexploded in the courtyard. This weaves a profound metaphor regarding historical trauma and childhood solidarity against the depravities of adults.

June 26, 2001 (New York City World Premiere) / June 29, 2001 (US Theatrical Release) -- A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Spielberg), film -- Haley Joel Osment -- A monumental, deeply moving, and visionary work of science fiction that originated as a project by Stanley Kubrick and was brought to life by Steven Spielberg. A prodigious Haley Joel Osment delivers one of the most complex, tour-de-force child acting performances of the millennium as David, a prototype robotic boy uniquely programmed to express unconditional, eternal love for his biological mother. When he is abandoned in the woods due to domestic jealousy, David embarks on a long, poignant on-the-road journey through a post-apocalyptic world in search of the Blue Fairy, transforming the film into a heartbreaking and unforgettable odyssey about the true nature of human emotion.

August 2, 2001 (US Premiere) / August 10, 2001 (US Wide Release) / September 7, 2001 (Spain Theatrical Release) -- The Others (Amenábar), film -- Alakina Mann & James Bentley -- A monumental triumph of psychological and gothic horror cinema, winner of eight Goya Awards, and an immediate cult classic of the new millennium. The very young Alakina Mann (Anne) and James Bentley (Nicholas) deliver two astonishing performances of composure, dramatic intensity, and terror as the two children of a rigidly religious and overprotective mother (Nicole Kidman) inside a foggy, isolated mansion on the island of Jersey in 1945. The children command the screen while dealing with a severe and lethal form of photosensitivity that forces them to live perpetually in darkness. Upon the arrival of three mysterious servants, their claustrophobic reality is plagued by inexplicable events and spectral apparitions, culminating in one of the most memorable final plot twists in cinema history.

September 7, 2001 (Toronto International Film Festival Premiere) / September 28, 2001 (US Wide Release) -- Hearts in Atlantis (Hicks), film -- Anton Yelchin & Mika Boorem -- A beautiful, nostalgic, and poignant mystery and coming-of-age drama based on a famous bestseller by Stephen King. A very young and unforgettable Anton Yelchin delivers a performance of extraordinary and pure expressive truth as Bobby Garfield, an eleven-year-old boy growing up fatherless in 1960s America. Alongside his young best friend Carol (Mika Boorem), Bobby's life is turned upside down when he meets the enigmatic and cultured tenant Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins), a man gifted with bizarre psychic powers who is fleeing from mysterious pursuers. This weaves an unforgettable and deep mentor-student bond that will mark the end of his childhood forever.

November 4, 2001 (London World Premiere) / November 16, 2001 (UK & US Wide Release) -- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Columbus), film -- Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint & Emma Watson -- A massive global commercial success that launched one of the most successful franchises in cinema history. The young trio brilliantly embodies J.K. Rowling's beloved characters, capturing the wonder, friendship, and heavy responsibility of a young boy discovering his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday.

December 3, 2001 (Beverly Hills World Premiere) / December 28, 2001 (US Limited Release) / January 25, 2002 (US Wide Release) -- I Am Sam (Nelson), film -- Dakota Fanning -- A moving and emotionally overwhelming Hollywood family drama focused on civil rights and the unconditional value of domestic affection. At just seven years old, in her dazzling major film debut, Dakota Fanning delivers a memorable, mature, and extraordinarily nuanced performance as Lucy Diamond Dawson. Lucy is the brilliant daughter of Sam (Sean Penn), an intellectually disabled man who raises her with immense love until social services decide to take her away. Fanning commands the screen, showcasing devastating father-daughter chemistry and an acting style steeped in dignity and protective love toward her father, instantly establishing herself as the quintessential child prodigy of the early 2000s.

2002

March 6, 2002 (France & Belgium Theatrical Release) -- Monsieur Batignole (Jugnot), film -- Jules Sitruk -- A moving and bittersweet French comedy-drama set in occupied Paris in 1942. A very young Jules Sitruk delivers a performance of extraordinary innocence and maturity as Simon Bernstein, a Jewish boy who escapes Gestapo arrest caused by the denunciation of Edmond Batignole’s (Gérard Jugnot) future son-in-law. When Simon appears at the door of the otherwise apathetic shopkeeper, the film relies entirely on the magnetism of the two actors, showcasing the gradual transformation of the grocer into a reluctant hero ready to risk everything to guide the young boy and his cousins to safety in Switzerland.

April 26, 2002 (UK Theatrical Release) / May 8, 2002 (Tribeca Film Festival Premiere) / May 17, 2002 (US Wide Release) -- About a Boy (Weitz/Weitz), film -- Nicholas Hoult -- A brilliant, acclaimed, and witty British comedy-drama adapted from the famous novel by Nick Hornby. At just twelve years old, a debuting Nicholas Hoult gives a performance of extraordinary and eccentric spontaneity as Marcus Brewer, an introverted boy targeted by school bullies who finds himself managing his single mother’s severe depression. Hoult commands the screen, building a memorable dynamic of mutual growth and maturity with a wealthy, immature thirty-something bachelor (Hugh Grant), serving as the emotional core of the entire film.

May 18, 2002 (Cannes Film Festival World Premiere) / August 30, 2002 (Brazil Wide Release) / February 13, 2004 (US Wide Release) -- City of God [Cidade de Deus] (Meirelles/Lund), film -- Douglas Silva & Alexandre Rodrigues -- A monumental, hyperkinetic, and visceral masterpiece of Brazilian and international cinema, nominated for four Academy Awards. Recruiting a cast composed almost entirely of real, non-professional youths raised in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the film anchors its extraordinary first act on the performance of a young Douglas Silva (as the ruthless, sociopathic Dadinho as a child) and Alexandre Rodrigues (Buscapé). Silva offers a chilling and unforgettable portrait of a childhood brutally broken and sucked into an endless cycle of endemic violence and organized crime.

July 9, 2002 (New York City World Premiere) / July 12, 2002 (US Wide Release) -- Road to Perdition (Mendes), film -- Tyler Hoechlin & Liam Aiken -- A sumptuous, poignant, and twilight-toned noir drama honored with the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. A very young and charismatic Tyler Hoechlin delivers a masterful and deeply resonant performance as Michael Sullivan Jr., the twelve-year-old son of a ruthless Irish mob enforcer (Tom Hanks), joined by Liam Aiken as his little brother Peter. When Michael Jr. accidentally witnesses a bloody execution, his childhood is violently swept away: Hoechlin delivers a performance steeped in dignity and restrained grief, accompanying his father on a desperate odyssey of flight and revenge that evolves into a profound story about filial bonds and redemption.

September 9, 2002 (Toronto International Film Festival World Premiere) / January 30, 2003 (New Zealand Theatrical Release) / June 6, 2003 (US Limited Release) -- Whale Rider (Caro), film -- Keisha Castle-Hughes -- A moving and multi-award-winning New Zealand dramatic masterpiece that left an indelible mark on cinema history. At just eleven years old, in her absolute acting debut, Keisha Castle-Hughes delivers a tour-de-force performance as Paikea Apirana, a young Māori girl who struggles desperately to win the love and respect of her stern, patriarchal grandfather, who refuses to accept her as the tribe's rightful leader because she is female. Castle-Hughes dominates the screen with astonishing dignity and emotional depth, earning a historic Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

2003

January 19, 2003 (Sundance Film Festival World Premiere) / August 22, 2003 (Denmark) / October 17, 2003 (Ireland Theatrical Release) -- Song for a Raggy Boy (Walsh), film -- John Travers & Chris Newman -- A highly tense, raw, and multi-award-winning Irish historical drama inspired by true events. The film anchors its devastating emotional impact on the exceptional ensemble performance of a large cast of child actors, led by John Travers (as the intelligent and rebellious Liam Mercier) and Chris Newman (as the tormented Patrick Delaney). Set in 1939 within the strict St. Jude's Catholic reformatory school, the boys embody with painful truth the collective trauma, fear, and extraordinary resilience of childhood when faced with the sadistic physical and psychological abuse inflicted by the prefect brothers, finding a beacon of hope in the arrival of the school's first lay teacher (Aidan Quinn).

February 8, 2003 (Berlin International Film Festival Premiere) / March 14, 2003 (Italy Theatrical Release) -- I'm Not Scared [Io non ho paura] (Salvatores), film -- Giuseppe Cristiano & Mattia Di Pierro -- An absolute masterpiece of contemporary Italian cinema directed by Gabriele Salvatores and based on the bestselling novel by Niccolò Ammaniti. A very young Giuseppe Cristiano delivers a legendary performance steeped in heartbreaking innocence as Michele Amitrano, a ten-year-old boy who, in the scorching hot countryside of Basilicata in 1978, accidentally discovers a small peer (Mattia Di Pierro as Filippo) chained at the bottom of an underground pit. Cristiano commands the screen with a disarming spontaneity, weaving a moving bond of solidarity and brotherhood with the kidnapped boy while finding himself forced to decipher the horrific criminal secret involving his family and the adults of his own village.

September 9, 2003 (Toronto International Film Festival Premiere) / October 3, 2003 (US Wide Release) -- School of Rock (Linklater), film -- Miranda Cosgrove & the Child Cast -- A massive commercial success and one of the most beloved and iconic musical comedies of the 2000s. The film relies heavily on its overwhelming energy and the exceptional, tightly-knit ensemble cast of child actors (including a very young Miranda Cosgrove making her debut as the strict band manager, Summer Hathaway). The children, who actually play their own musical instruments in the film, support Jack Black beautifully, transforming a rigid classroom at a prestigious private school into a wild and rebellious rock band while celebrating the value of personal expression and youthful camaraderie.

2004

March 17, 2004 (France & Belgium Theatrical Release) -- Les Choristes [The Chorus] (Barratier), film -- Jean-Baptiste Maunier -- A monumental triumph of French and European cinema, nominated for two Academy Awards. Fourteen-year-old Jean-Baptiste Maunier delivers a legendary and emotionally overwhelming performance as Pierre Morhange, a rebellious boy with an angelic face locked away in a strict and repressive post-war boarding school for orphans. Thanks to the arrival of a gentle supervisor (Gérard Jugnot) who founds a choir, the young protagonist discovers his miraculous gift for singing, transforming the film into a moving hymn to redemption and the saving power of art.

May 13, 2004 (Cannes Film Festival World Premiere) / August 7, 2004 (Japan Wide Release) -- Nobody Knows [Dare mo shiranai] (Kore-eda), film -- Yûya Yagira -- An absolute masterpiece of international dramatic cinema, directed with extraordinary and quiet delicacy by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Twelve-year-old Yûya Yagira delivers a monumental, tour-de-force acting performance as Akira, the eldest of four half-siblings secretly abandoned by their mother inside a small Tokyo apartment. Yagira (who made history by winning the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, becoming its youngest winner ever) commands the screen, showcasing the children's slow descent into a lonely odyssey of urban survival with devastating dignity and pragmatism.

May 31, 2004 (London World Premiere) / June 4, 2004 (UK & US Wide Release) -- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Cuarón), film -- Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint & Emma Watson -- The critically acclaimed third installment of the global fantasy franchise, widely celebrated for transitioning the series into a darker, visually sophisticated tone. The central young trio steps into early adolescence with marked emotional maturity as Harry discovers a dangerous fugitive connected to his tragic past has escaped prison.

September 4, 2004 (Telluride Film Festival World Premiere) / November 12, 2004 (US Limited Release) -- Finding Neverland (Forster), film -- Freddie Highmore -- A sumptuous, poignant, and acclaimed Academy Award-winning Hollywood biographical drama. A very young and prodigious Freddie Highmore literally steals the show alongside Johnny Depp as Peter Llewelyn Davies, one of four fatherless brothers whose extraordinary bond and games in the park inspire author J.M. Barrie to create the magical world of Peter Pan. Highmore delivers a performance of astonishing intensity and composure, portraying the repressed anger and grief of a child who refuses to take refuge in fairy tales so he won't forget the harsh reality of his family's loss.

September 14, 2004 (Toronto International Film Festival World Premiere) / March 11, 2005 (US Wide Release) / May 27, 2005 (UK Wide Release) -- Millions (Boyle), film -- Alex Etel & Lewis McGibbon -- A delightful, quirky, and brilliant Christmas fable directed with the hyperkinetic energy of Danny Boyle. Young Alex Etel delivers an extraordinary cinematic debut steeped in pure innocence as Damian Cunningham, an imaginative seven-year-old boy who, while grieving the loss of his mother, finds a bag containing £1 million in stolen loot alongside his older brother Anthony (Lewis McGibbon). Damian, who regularly converses with visions of Christian saints, commands the screen as he decides to use the money to do good deeds and help the poor before the UK's imminent transition to the Euro, weaving a deeply moving parable about childhood purity.

November 18, 2004 (Sithengi Film Festival World Premiere) / February 18, 2005 (South Africa Wide Release) -- Boy Called Twist (Greene), film -- Jarrid Geduld -- A raw, visceral, and original contemporary reimagining of the Charles Dickens classic set amidst the shantytowns of South Africa. Young Jarrid Geduld delivers a performance of piercing honesty as Twist, a street kid raised in an arid rural orphanage who escapes to Cape Town. There, he ends up integrated into a gang of young thieves run by Fagin, an elderly Ethiopian Rastafarian, in a story steeped in social realism and the hope for redemption.

December 13, 2004 (Los Angeles World Premiere) / December 17, 2004 (US & UK Wide Release) -- A Series of Unfortunate Events (Silberling), film -- Emily Browning & Liam Aiken -- A lavishly designed, gothic dark comedy fantasy based on the popular book series by Lemony Snicket. Young actors Emily Browning and Liam Aiken anchor the film's macabre atmosphere with incredibly sharp performances as two brilliant, resilient orphaned siblings constantly using their wits to escape a villainous relative trying to steal their fortune.

2005

February 8, 2005 (Hungarian Film Festival Premiere) / February 10, 2005 (Hungary Wide Release) / February 14, 2005 (Berlin International Film Festival) -- Fateless [Sorstalanság] (Koltai), film -- Marcell Nagy -- A monumental, visceral, and award-winning Hungarian historical drama adapted from the semi-autobiographical novel by Nobel Prize laureate Imre Kertész, beautifully enriched by an original score from Ennio Morricone. Fourteen-year-old Marcell Nagy delivers an acting performance of exceptional maturity and intensity as György Köves, a teenage Jewish boy from Budapest who is suddenly torn from his family in 1944 and deported to the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. Nagy excels in portraying the absurd, surreal odyssey of a young boy forced to adapt to daily horrors simply to survive, painting a devastating portrait of the irrevocable loss of innocence.

February 14, 2005 (Berlin International Film Festival World Premiere) / September 22, 2005 (Russia Wide Release) -- The Italian [Italyanets] (Kravchuk), film -- Kolya Spiridonov -- A touching, poetic, and critically acclaimed Russian drama inspired by an incredible true story. Young Kolya Spiridonov delivers a performance of astonishing depth and heartbreaking innocence as Vanya Solntsev, a six-year-old boy living in a rundown, isolated orphanage run by cynical and corrupt adults. Chosen by a wealthy Italian couple for a highly lucrative adoption, the young boy makes the stunning decision to reject the promise of an affluent life. Instead, he embarks on a highly risky, solitary on-the-road escape by train to search for his true biological mother.

May 20, 2005 (Cannes Film Festival Premiere) / October 2005 (Cuba Wide Release) -- Viva Cuba (Cremata), film -- Malú Tarrau Broche & Jorge Milo -- A delightful, rhythmic, and brilliant Cuban comedy-drama, celebrated for winning the historic Grand Prix Écrans Juniors for children's cinema at the Cannes Film Festival. Young actors Malú Tarrau Broche and Jorge Milo deliver two incredibly fresh and spontaneous performances as best friends divided by the rigid ideological and class barriers of their respective single mothers. Following the death of Malú's grandmother, her mother decides to leave the island. The two children run away from home, embarking on an adventurous odyssey across Cuba to the other end of the island in a desperate attempt to find the girl's father and persuade him not to sign her emigration papers.

July 10, 2005 (Grauman's Chinese Theatre World Premiere) / July 15, 2005 (US Wide Release) -- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Burton), film -- Freddie Highmore -- A massive global commercial success and a lavish, bizarre, dark fantasy reimagining of the classic Roald Dahl children's novel by director Tim Burton. A highly dependable Freddie Highmore once again commands the screen as Charlie Bucket, a generous, kind-hearted boy living in extreme poverty with his family who defies the odds to win the final Golden Ticket to visit the mysterious chocolate factory of Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp). Highmore infuses the film with an irresistible innocence and humility, serving as the perfect moral anchor against the pure greed and vices of the other spoiled children.

December 7, 2005 (London Royal World Premiere) / December 9, 2005 (US & UK Wide Release) -- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Adamson), film -- Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley & Anna Popplewell -- A grand, epic fantasy blockbuster that beautifully balances cutting-edge CGI with authentic emotional depth. The four young leads deliver highly grounded performances as the Pevensie siblings, who accidentally stumble through a magical wardrobe portal into a mythical land locked in eternal winter.

2006

January 20, 2006 (Sundance Film Festival World Premiere) / July 26, 2006 (US Theatrical Release) -- Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton/Faris), film -- Abigail Breslin -- One of the most beloved and celebrated independent road comedy-dramas of the new millennium, winner of two Academy Awards. At just ten years old, Abigail Breslin delivers an extraordinarily sweet and spontaneous performance as Olive Hoover, a bright young girl who unexpectedly qualifies for a prestigious beauty pageant in California, earning herself a historic Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

May 27, 2006 (Cannes Film Festival World Premiere) / October 11, 2006 (Spain Wide Release) -- Pan's Labyrinth [El laberinto del fauno] (Del Toro), film -- Ivana Baquero -- An absolute masterpiece of international dark fantasy and historical cinema, winner of three Academy Awards. Twelve-year-old Ivana Baquero delivers a monumental acting performance of staggering dramatic maturity as Ofelia, a fairy-tale-loving girl who moves with her pregnant mother to the military headquarters of her sadistic stepfather in the harsh, dry Francoist Spain of 1944, winning the Goya Award for Best New Actress.

September 26, 2006 (Festival do Rio Premiere) / November 2, 2006 (Brazil Wide Release) -- The Year My Parents Went on Vacation [O Ano em que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias] (Hamburger), film -- Michel Joelsas -- A touching, refined, and acclaimed Brazilian coming-of-age drama. Very young Michel Joelsas delivers a performance of astonishing innocence and sensitivity as Mauro, a twelve-year-old football-loving boy whose left-wing activist parents are forced to suddenly flee due to the 1970 military dictatorship. Left in a multi-ethnic neighborhood of São Paulo under the temporary custody of an elderly grandfather who passes away that very same day, Mauro commands the screen as he experiences his loneliness and the anxious wait for his parents against the backdrop of the legendary Mexico World Cup, weaving a deeply moving portrait of childhood resilience.

December 15, 2006 (US Wide Release) -- The Pursuit of Happyness (Muccino), film -- Jaden Smith -- An intense, moving, and world-renowned biographical drama directed with great emotional depth by Gabriele Muccino. Making his absolute cinematic debut at just seven years old, young Jaden Smith delivers a performance of extraordinary and pure expressive truth starring alongside his real-life father, Will Smith. The boy portrays Christopher, the son of a salesman who has fallen into extreme poverty and found himself homeless in 1980s San Francisco. The astonishing chemistry and vulnerability of the young protagonist elevate the emotional weight of the film, earning him the award for Breakthrough Performance at the MTV Movie Awards.

2007

January 22, 2007 (Sundance Film Festival World Premiere) / April 4, 2008 (UK Theatrical Release) -- Son of Rambow (Jennings), film -- Bill Milner & Will Poulter -- A brilliant, nostalgic, and acclaimed British coming-of-age comedy that became an immediate cult classic of youth cinema. Very young debutants Bill Milner (as the timid and imaginative Will Proudfoot) and Will Poulter (as the rebellious school troublemaker Lee Carter) deliver extraordinary breakthrough performances. Set in the 1980s, the film follows the sudden and deep friendship between two suburban boys who, struck by an bootleg viewing of the film Rambo: First Blood, decide to join forces and use an old amateur camera to shoot an audacious, homemade sequel in the woods, celebrating the wonder of childhood imagination and camaraderie.

April 6, 2007 (Abu Dhabi World Premiere) / April 19, 2007 (International Release) / August 17, 2007 (US Wide Release) -- The Last Legion (Lefler), film -- Thomas Sangster -- A spectacular and adventurous international epic-historical film based on the celebrated novel by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. Fourteen-year-old Thomas Sangster (known for Love Actually) delivers a performance of great charisma, dignity, and composure as Romulus Augustus, the very young and final Western Roman Emperor. Captured and imprisoned on the island of Capri following a brutal deposition by barbarians, the young sovereign commands the screen as he courageously faces escape and an adventurous transoceanic exodus toward Britannia in search of the legendary Ninth Legion, discovering a magical sword embedded in stone that kicks off the myth of King Arthur.

May 21, 2007 (Cannes Film Festival World Premiere) / February 27, 2008 (US Limited Release) -- Chop Shop (Bahrani), film -- Alejandro Polanco -- A raw, visceral, and incredibly powerful pillar of American independent neorealist cinema, universally acclaimed by critics. Twelve-year-old non-professional Alejandro Polanco delivers a cinematic debut of stunning and piercing emotional honesty as Alejandro "Ale," a Puerto Rican street orphan living and working hard in an unlicensed auto body repair shop within the gritty automotive underworld of Willets Point, Queens. Polanco dominates the screen, showcasing with devastating dignity and pragmatism the daily hustles of a boy forced to be a father to himself and his older sister, struggling to save enough money to buy a mobile food-vending truck to change their lives forever.

August 29, 2007 (Venice Film Festival World Premiere) / September 7, 2007 (UK Theatrical Release) -- Atonement (Wright), film -- Saoirse Ronan -- A sumptuous and acclaimed historical romantic drama based on the literary masterpiece by Ian McEwan. At just thirteen years old, young Saoirse Ronan makes a dazzling international breakthrough, delivering an exceptional, chilling, and psychologically complex performance as Briony Tallis—a young girl whose vivid literary imagination irrevocably destroys the life of her older sister's lover, earning her a historic Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

December 18, 2007 (BBC One Premiere) -- Oliver Twist (Giedroyc), TV miniseries -- William Miller -- A sumptuous, vibrant, and highly faithful five-part television adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic produced by the BBC and written by Sarah Phelps. Young William Miller delivers an extraordinarily angelic, expressive, and magnetic performance as the titular protagonist Oliver Twist, the famous orphan who flees the mistreatment of a rural workhouse to take refuge in Victorian London. Miller excels at holding his own against a cast of immense adult stars (such as Tom Hardy and Timothy Spall), transmitting with stunning innocence the unyielding purity of a child who resists the temptations and depravities of the young pickpocket gang led by Fagin.

December 21, 2007 (India Theatrical Release) -- Like Stars on Earth [Taare Zameen Par] (Khan), film -- Darsheel Safary -- An absolute, moving, and emotionally overwhelming masterpiece of contemporary Indian cinema, highly acclaimed on an international level. Young Darsheel Safary delivers a legendary, tour-de-force performance as Ishaan Awasthi, an imaginative and highly sensitive eight-year-old boy whose internal world is rich with colors and animated wonders, but who faces a painful daily ordeal at school due to severe, undiagnosed difficulties in reading and writing. Safary commands the screen, showing with piercing psychological truth the trauma of misunderstanding and isolation within a strict boarding school, until the arrival of an unconventional art teacher (Aamir Khan) who recognizes his profound dyslexia and helps his immense visual talent shine.

2008

August 28, 2008 (Carnegie Film Festival Premiere) / September 12, 2008 (UK Theatrical Release) / November 26, 2008 (US Wide Release) -- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Herman), film -- Asa Butterfield & Jack Scanlon -- One of the most moving, devastating, and widely watched historical dramas about World War II, adapted from the celebrated novel by John Boyne. At ten years old, a brilliant Asa Butterfield delivers a performance of astonishing innocence as Bruno, the young son of a stern SS officer who moves with his family next to a concentration camp. While exploring the perimeter, the child forms a deep, clandestine friendship with Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a Jewish peer confined behind the barbed wire. The film rests entirely on the extraordinary and pure chemistry of the two children, filtering the atrocity of the Holocaust through the gaze of childlike innocence until a tragic, unforgettable ending.

August 30, 2008 (Telluride Film Festival World Premiere) / December 25, 2008 (US Release) / January 9, 2009 (UK Wide Release) -- Slumdog Millionaire (Boyle), film -- Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail & Co. -- A global cinematic triumph, winner of 8 Academy Awards (including Best Picture). Although the plot follows eighteen-year-old Jamal (Dev Patel) on the quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, the first extraordinary act of the film anchors itself on the dazzling, neorealistic performances of the young non-professional child actors recruited directly from the slums of Mumbai, notably Ayush Mahesh Khedekar (as young Jamal) and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail (as young Salim). Driven by an overwhelming, hyperkinetic energy, the children command the screen, showcasing their grueling odyssey of survival, hunger, and brotherhood on the streets of India with devastating dignity and pragmatism.

September 2008 (Venice Film Festival Special Screening) / October 12, 2008 (Gent International Film Festival Premiere) / November 12, 2008 (France Theatrical Release) -- Stella (Verheyde), film -- Léora Barbara & Mélissa Rodriguès -- A refined, intimate, and acclaimed French semi-autobiographical dramatic masterpiece. Very young Léora Barbara delivers a monumental, intense, and extraordinarily natural breakthrough performance as Stella, an eleven-year-old girl living in 1977 Paris. Raised inside a chaotic, rough suburban bar run by her parents amidst heavy smoke, eccentric patrons, and sudden brawls, the young girl is suddenly catapulted into a prestigious, rigid Parisian middle school populated by wealthy children. Isolated and struggling academically, Stella commands the screen as she finds an emotional anchor in her deep intellectual friendship with her cultured, middle-class classmate Gladys (Mélissa Rodriguès), building a moving portrait of the irrevocable end of childhood.

2009

August 13, 2009 (International Release) / October 1, 2010 (US Wide Release) -- Case 39 (Alvart), film -- Jodelle Ferland -- A highly tense and chilling psychological supernatural horror thriller that fits perfectly within the "killer kid" subgenre. Fourteen-year-old Jodelle Ferland (already known for Silent Hill) delivers a masterful, disturbing, and shockingly intense performance as Lilith Sullivan, an apparently angelic and submissive girl who is rescued from her abusive, murderous parents by a caring social worker (Renée Zellweger). Ferland completely commands the screen with a cold, unsettling magnetism once it is revealed that the girl actually conceals a malevolent supernatural entity capable of manipulating adults' deepest psychological fears to drive them to their deaths.

October 13, 2009 (New York City World Premiere) / October 16, 2009 (US Wide Release) -- Where the Wild Things Are [Nel paese delle creature selvagge] (Jonze), film -- Max Records -- A beautiful, melancholic, and acclaimed Hollywood fantasy-drama masterpiece directed by Spike Jonze and adapted from Maurice Sendak's celebrated classic children's picture book. Twelve-year-old Max Records delivers a tour-de-force and emotionally overwhelming performance as Max, a lonely, hyperactive, and misunderstood young boy who runs away from home in a wolf costume following a heated domestic argument with his mother. Records commands the screen as he navigates a mystical island inhabited by giant, volatile furry monsters who crown him their king; his performance captures the complexity of childhood anger, the fear of abandonment, and the desperate need for family warmth with profound psychological truth.