Changes

The first film in the Growing Up series tells curious pre-adolescents the facts they want to know, with an appealing mix of humour and imagination. Topics discussed include sexual attraction and sexual intercourse, fertilization, the growth of an embryo and birth of a baby, as well as a brief look at AIDS and at birth control. Detailed information about relationships is presented through the loving connection between two animated characters, Fred and Anna. The two hosts engage the students in discussion, encouraging them to ask questions and share their thoughts and feelings.

The last film in the series focuses on the skills pre-adolescents will need to cope with peer pressure. Animated sequences reflecting universal peer-pressure situations, and live-action role-playing sequences, help children gain skill in decision-making. When the action is stopped in the middle of a scene, the children are challenged to come up with their own solutions to the problem.

Animated drawings illustrate how conception occurs and the way that various birth control devices, surgical methods, and the pill function in effecting contraception. The film is without spoken commentary and is designed to be used by professional personnel. Film without words.

This smart documentary explores the intimidating terrain of girlhood by following three 12-year-olds over the period of one year. As these girls move from childhood to maturity, it's clear that peer pressure is an important influence, but as the films shows, the greatest influence in a young girl's life is family.

Filmmaker Victoria King's creative approach, including the use of "diary-cam" footage, not only follows the girls but allows them to question the world in their own voices. Ultimately, the film reveals the complexities of being 12, both satisfying our curiosity and inviting us to ask, What happens next?

These provocative 20-minute movies made by high school students provide an insider's look at youth culture. Made by four 17-year-old directors with help from a professional crew, Salt is a four-part filmzine: four films, four flavours, four windows into youth culture that explore alternative education, Montreal's flourishing independent music scene, the troubling practice of self-mutilation and a quest for the punk subculture.

In this feature documentary, director Hélène Choquette sheds light on the phenomenon of early-onset puberty in girls. Today, it isn't unusual to see the earliest signs of puberty in girls younger than the age of 9, though this was not the case a few decades ago. A number of causes are suspected: could obesity and exposure to environmental contaminants, for instance, be to blame? The physical, psychological and psychosocial repercussions on young girls results in a disconnect between their physical and emotional maturity. Far from being a marginal issue, early-onset puberty is fast becoming a worldwide public health concern. Little Big Girls alerts us to the need to adapt, as a society, so as to minimize the impact of this phenomenon on our children.

Flawed is nothing less than a beautiful gift from Andrea Dorfman's vivid imagination, a charming little film about very big ideas. Dorfman has the uncanny ability to transform the intensely personal into the wisely universal. She deftly traces her encounter with a potential romantic partner, questioning her attraction and the uneasy possibility of love. But, ultimately, Flawed is less about whether girl can get along with boy than whether girl can accept herself, imperfections and all.

This film is both an exquisite tribute to the art of animation and a loving homage to storyboarding, a time-honoured way of rendering scenes while pointing the way to the dramatic arc of the tale.

In this short film, three youths draw on their own experiences to provide an essential guide to staying afloat while navigating the choppy waters of adolescence. It's a time when youth undergo big changes and assume new responsibilities, juggling school, family and friends. Throw in work, dating, exams, racist remarks and extracurricular activities, and it's no wonder teens get knocked off balance. Spoken word performer Kyra Shaughnessy and a diverse chorus of young voices provide running commentary, making XS Stress an insightful report from the teens of today.

If you could go back and speak to your 12-year-old self, what would you say? Through this documentary, Philippine-born filmmaker Lester Alfonso attempts to answer this question by interviewing twelve diverse subjects, each of whom moved to Canada at age 12, like himself.

Produced as part of the Reel Diversity Competition for emerging filmmakers of colour. Reel Diversity is a National Film Board of Canada initiative in partnership with CBC Newsworld.

Women have always sought ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies, despite powerful patriarchal structures and systems working against them. This film provides a historical overview of how church, state and the medical establishment have determined policies concerning abortion. From this cross-cultural survey--filmed in Ireland, Japan, Thailand, Peru, Colombia, and Canada--emerges one reality: only a small percentage of the world's women has access to safe, legal operations.

This film examines the problem of children who won't eat, and what can be done about it. Tommy should be hungry, but he just picks at his food. Going back to early babyhood, the film traces in detail, how eating habits are formed, how individual likes and dislikes must be taken into consideration, and that the worst habit of all is the permanent battle over food. After this analysis, Tommy still sits by his well-filled plate. In despair his mother takes him to the doctor, who explains that she is really the problem. She realizes that she has been tense, impatient with Tommy from the start. Now it will take painstaking care to build a new atmosphere of cooperation and friendliness, to learn understanding of Tommy's personal requirements at mealtimes, and all the time.