Love, Mary(1985)

Won't Back Down(en)

Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.

The Waterdance(en)

Author Joel Garcia breaks his neck while hiking, and finds himself in a rehab center with Raymond, an exaggerating ladies man, and Bloss, a racist biker. Considerable tension builds as each character tries to deal with his new found handicap and the problems that go with it, especially Joel, whose lover Anna is having as difficult a time as he is.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden(en)

A disturbed and institutionalized 16-year-old girl struggles between fantasy and reality.

Level 16(en)

The teenage girls of Vestalis Academy are meticulously trained in the art of being “clean girls,” practicing the virtues of perfect femininity. But what exactly are they being trained for? Vivien intends to find out.

Out of My Mind(en)

Melody Brooks, a sixth grader with cerebral palsy, has a quick wit and a sharp mind, but because she is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, she is not given the same opportunities as her classmates. When a young educator notices her student's untapped potential and Melody starts to participate in mainstream education, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it.

Imagine(en)

A blind teacher breaks the rules to help a female student rediscover the pleasures of life.

Phoebe in Wonderland(en)

The fantastical tale of a little girl who won't - or can't - follow the rules. Confounded by her clashes with the rule-obsessed world around her, Phoebe seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher, even as her brilliant but anguished mother looks to Phoebe herself for inspiration.

Steve(en)

Over one intense day, the devoted head teacher of a last-chance reform school strives to keep his students in line while facing pressures of his own.

Scandalous Sex(en)

A daughter seeks to restore the reputation of her disgraced father, a wronged college professor. With help of a professional student, she must overcome an ambitious sorority bitch and corrupt college dean.

A Kid Like Jake(en)

On the eve of the admissions cycle for New York City kindergartens, Alex and Greg Wheeler have high hopes for four-year-old Jake. The director of Jake's preschool encourages them to accentuate Jake's gender expansive behavior to help him stand out. As Alex and Greg navigate their roles as parents, a rift grows between them, one that forces them to confront their own concerns about what's best for Jake, and each other.

The Invisible(en)

After an attack leaves him in limbo -- invisible to the living and also near death -- a teenager discovers the only person who might be able help him is his attacker.

Herself(en)

Struggling to provide her daughters with a safe, happy home, Sandra decides to build one - from scratch. Using all her ingenuity to make her ambitious dream a reality, Sandra draws together a community to lend a helping hand to build her house and ultimately recover her own sense of self.

The Girl in the Book(en)

The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.

Adopt a Highway(en)

Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.

What Maisie Knew(en)

In New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle.

Across the Tracks(en)

When Billy returns from reform school he has to attend a different high school at the other side of town. He tries to start with a clean slate but his old rival doesn't make it easy on him and his buddy Louie tries to make him go astray again. His brother Joe, quite the opposite of Billy, is a good runner and determined to win a track scholarship. He suggests Billy to join his school's track team, which pits the two brothers against each other.

Lady Driver(en)

When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.

Walk. Ride. Rodeo.(en)

Tells the incredible true story of Amberley Snyder, a nationally ranked rodeo barrel racer who defies the odds after barely surviving a car accident that leaves her paralyzed from the waist down.

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds(en)

Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.

The Unforgivable(en)

A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.

In Her Shoes(en)

Irresponsible party girl Maggie is kicked out of her father's and stepmother's home—where she lives for free—and is taken in by her hard-working sister, Philadelphia lawyer Rose. After Maggie's disruptive ways ruin her sister's love life, Rose turns her out as well. But when their grandmother, who they never knew existed, comes into their lives, the sisters face some complicated truths about themselves and their family.

Anya's Bell(en)

Inspirational tale set in the late 1940s involving an elderly blind woman with a unique collection of bells in her home and a dyslexic 12-year-old boy who form an offbeat friendship to help each other overcome a disability.

Fallen(en)

Lucinda Price is sent to a reform academy under the assumption that she has killed a boy. There, she meets two mysterious boys, Cam and Daniel, to whom she feels drawn to both. But as the love triangle unfurls, it is Daniel that Luce cannot keep herself away from, and things begin to take a darker turn when she finds out his true identity.

Black Pearls(sh)

Reform school teacher tries to carry his class to the right path by teaching them diving.

Reform School Girl(en)

A young man steals a car and ends up involved in a pedestrian fatality. The only witness is a girl he has just met. He threatens her life if she talks, so when she refuses to tell what she knows, she is sent to reform school.

Two Alone(en)

Mazie, a poor orphan girl, is mistreated by cruel farmer Slag and his wife for whom she works. Mazie, who is growing into a woman, does not like they way Slag has been looking at her lately.

Like Stars on Earth(hi)

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate. Colours, fish, dogs, and kites don't seem important to the adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks, and neatness. Ishaan cannot seem to get anything right in class; he is then sent to boarding school, where his life changes forever.

Nickel Boys(en)

Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

Angels with Dirty Faces(en)

Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his old tenement neighborhood.

Kingpin(en)

Willie, a likeable kid, forms a friendship with Rikki, a new arrival at the reform school. Willie discovers that Rikki is maybe tough enough to take on Karl, the kingpin. Although Rikki is strong, he does not like to fight, but tensions mount as Karl's bullying become more obnoxious. After being shown up by Willie, Karl loses his temper and gives Willie a thrashing. As a result, Willie joins with some other boys in an escape. They steal a car, get drunk, and have a serious accident. Meanwhile Rikki is in hospital, injured in a forestry "accident' engineered by Karl.

Borstal Boy(en)

Brendan Behan, a sixteen year-old IRA foot soldier, is going on a bombing mission from Ireland to Liverpool during the second world war. His mission is thwarted when he is apprehended, charged and imprisoned in Borstal, a reform institution for young offenders in East Anglia, England.

Diary of a Lost Woman(de)

Cookster: The Darkest Days(en)

Misunderstood by his family, abandoned by the system, and desperate for respect, a dyslexic teenager becomes a drug dealer struggling to balance his addiction and debt to a local gangster while a rival threatens to destroy his world, driving him apart from the girl he loves and a daughter he's never known.

Girl's Reform School(ja)

The day to day life in an establishment for delinquent teenage girls.

The Slingshot(sv)

Stockholm in the 1920s. Young Roland lives with his socialist father, Jewish mother and a boxing brother. His mother sells condoms illegally, and from them, Roland makes slingshots which he sells. His rebellious ways has gotten him the special attention of his school teacher, who always makes sure that Roland is punished. Roland also tries to make extra money by repairing bicycles, a successful business that in the end lands him in hot water.

The Secret(en)

Mostly on account of a pride struggle, Mike Dunmore has lived his whole life keeping a secret which he believed would only cause shame if it came to light. Personal relationships with his son Patrick have been strained as a result. The only ones who ever knew anything about it were his deceased wife and his best friend, Thurgood who he works with, who both agreed to help keep it covered up for him as long as they could. However, when his treasured grandson begins experiencing the same problems, Mike realizes that he can't hide his secret any longer, or if he tried to, it would be most difficult. Even more so when he is endorsed and volunteers to run as a candidate for local election.

King of Devil's Island(no)

Norwegian winter, 1915. On the island Bastøy, outside Oslo, a group of young boys aged 11 to 18, are held in an institution for delinquent youth, notorious for its sadistic regime. One day a new boy, Erling, arrives, determined to escape from the island. After a tragic incident, he ends up leading the boys in a violent uprising. When the boys manage to take over the island, 150 soldiers are sent in to restore order.

Red Rock Run(en)

A dyslexic girl seeks to win her distant father’s attention by taking on an ultra-marathon.

Steve(en)

Over one intense day, the devoted head teacher of a last-chance reform school strives to keep his students in line while facing pressures of his own.

Lady of the Night(en)

The story of two baby girls, born near in proximity but worlds apart in society: Molly Helmer, the daughter of a thief, and Florence Banning, the daughter of the judge who sent Molly's father to prison. The girls' lives come together as they reach the age of eighteen, when Florence leaves the security of the exclusive Girls Select School, and Molly, now orphaned, begins her life after reform school.