1964, Janus Films, 85 min, Czechoslovakia, Dir: Milos Forman

Shot on a low budget with non-professional actors, Milos Forman’s feature debut displays the sly humor and naturalism that put the director at the forefront of the Czech new wave of the 1960s. With his father constantly badgering him, 16-year-old Petr (Ladislav Jakim) trades a summer hanging out with friends for a job as a supermarket trainee - where his primary duty is to spy on the customers and prevent shoplifting.

2016, Reel Suspects, 85 min, Italy/Belgium, Dir: Andrea De Sica

Giulio (Vincenzo Crea), a 17-year-old from a well-to-do family, is sent to an isolated boarding school in the Alps, where iron-clad rules limit all contact with the outside. He finds a kindred spirit in the rather odd Edoardo (Ludovico Succio), with whom he frequently escapes the grounds when security becomes lax after dark. The two discover a nightclub hidden in the forest, where they befriend a prostitute, Elena (Yuliia Sobol) - and ultimately discover that the school’s reach is much greater than they had imagined.

2017, 106 min, Germany, Dir: Ute Wieland

Inseparable best friends Nini (Flora Thiemann) and Jameelah (Emily Kusche) live in the same working-class Berlin housing project, attend the same school and love Tiger Milk, a mix of milk, brandy and passion fruit juice. For the rebellious 14-year-olds, the summer means a chance to finally break from the innocence of childhood - partying, falling in love and perhaps finally doing “it.” But one evening, the girls witness a crime that hits so close to home that nothing will be the same again. Wieland’s adaptation of Stefanie De Velasco’s best-selling novel skillfully relays the relevant social tension of the source material and draws performances from the young protagonists that offer an authenticity rarely seen in coming-of-age films.

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