The 12 most recommended educational films for young people

Cinema, as well as an art, is a tool that allows us to create and visualize unimaginable realities of all kinds, but also close realities that touch us all. In this article we want to talk about education, and link this theme with cinema.

That's why here you will find 12 educational films for young people, who can help us work on different aspects of education with them, whether as teachers, mothers, fathers, therapists, etc.

They are films well valued by critics, which provide a diversity of values ​​and which invite reflection on various aspects of reality, even beyond education.

• Related article: "20 films about Psychology and mental disorders"

12 educational films recommended for children and adolescents

This is a selection of various educational films for young people, with an explanation of their plot and some brushstrokes of why they are interesting to visualize, especially with the population young.

As we will see, they are films that approach education from different perspectives, and that

They highlight values ​​that can be very educational, such as self-improvement, struggle and perseverance, among others..

1. Unforgettable Lessons (1988)

In this film the protagonist is Jaime Escalante, a mathematics teacher at a Los Angeles institute.

His students do not have too many aspirations in life beyond getting a job that allows them to survive, but thanks to Jaime they will begin to overcome a series of challenges and show that they have great potential.

2. The Forbidden Education (2012)

“Forbidden Education” is another of the best educational films for young people.

It is a documentary film that analyzes, from a critical perspective, what educational models are currently being carried out. It is actually a critique that exposes the deficiencies of the current system and proposes a new educational model.

3. The tongue of butterflies (1999)

The film is set in the year 1936. Its protagonists are Don Gregorio and Moncho. Don Gregorio teaches Moncho everything he knows about nature, literature, and women. However, a conflict begins when Don Gregorio is attacked for considering himself an enemy of the fascist regime, which causes a gap to arise between the two characters.

4. The Class (2008)

The original title of this French film is “Entre les murs”. The film tells the story of François, a French teacher from a troubled institute in a slum of a French city.

During the film we see François's relationship with his students, as well as his struggle to stimulate his own thinking. However, the different cultures that we find in the classroom, as well as the diverse attitudes of the students, will cause conflicts to arise throughout the film.

5. The Wave (2008)

Another of the best educational films for young people, highly recommended to watch, is "The Wave". The story takes place in Germany, where a high school teacher, Rainer Wenger, decides to carry out an experiment with his class., gradually establishing a totalitarian regime that ends up getting out of control.

It is a film that will make us reflect -and a lot- about politics, dictatorships, rules, control, abuse of power, fear, etc.

6. Not One Less (1999)

With a score of 7.7 on FilmAffinity, "Not one less" is considered another of the great educational films for young people. It tells the story, developed in China, of Wei Minzhi, a 13-year-old girl who lives in the mountains, and who is forced to replace her teacher for a month.

He offers her the "reward" of 10 chalks if she gets no student to drop out of school. Wei will have to face Zhang, a student that she wants to abandon.

7. The Miracle of Ana Sullivan (1962)

This time we bring you a much older film, which tells a beautiful story that values ​​perseverance, effort and perseverance. It tells the story of Ana Sullivan, a woman who is hired to educate Helen, a deafblind girl.

It is a very serious case, but we see how Helen gradually improves Ana's skills, as well as her quality of life, as well as breaking the isolation in which she lives.

8. It all starts today (1999)

"Everything begins today", another of the best educational films for young people by the values ​​that it transmits of self-improvement and effort. It tells the story of Daniel, a nursery school director from a marginal neighborhood in northern France.

One day a troubled mother abandons her children there, and Daniel tries to get the neighbors to help him; however, as a result, he is questioned as a teacher, and we see how he takes precedence over the situation.

9. The Four Hundred Blows (1959)

Another of the educational films for young people, also French, is this one by François Truffaut. It tells the story of Antoine, a 14-year-old boy with a very demanding teacher..

The plot becomes more complicated when Antoine sees his mother being unfaithful to his father, and as a result he enters a spiral of lies, deciding to escape with his friend René to see the sea.

10. Shinomi's School (1955)

In this case we bring you a film that addresses, among others, the issue of disability. Yamamoto is a professor of psychology at the university, the father of two children. One of his children has cerebral palsy and is bullied at school.

That is why Yamamoto and Fumiko, his wife, decide to open a special education school. The film, in addition to giving visibility and normalization to disability, tells us about overcoming and fighting.

11. Dead Poets Club (1989)

Another classic, and also considered one of the best educational films for young people, is Peter Weir's Dead Poets Club.

The film shows us the story of Mr. Keating, an eccentric professor with unconventional methods from a private school in New England. Thanks to Mr. Keating, his students will discover the power of poetry and language, as well as the importance of living in the here and now.

12. Choir Boys (2004)

Finally, the last of the 12 recommended educational films that we will see here is this one by Christophe Barratier. the film us shows the story of Clément, a music teacher who starts working as a duty teacher in a boarding school of reeducation of minors.

There he observes the repressive system to which minors are subjected. Clément begins a task with them that will go beyond the purely academic, through music and choir, which will end up changing their lives completely.