Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

A year in a one-room village school in the Auvergne, France, where a single teacher, Georges Lopez, teaches children from four to eleven. Philibert watches without narration: a boy who won't write, a fight over a lost cap, a farm child learning to read. It became one of the biggest French documentaries ever.

Why it’s here: The film is a record of a teacher who lets time and mixed ages do much of the work. What's punk is the absence of rankings and tests, and that nothing happens except learning. What's pedagogical is how it shows a classroom without a screen, a mixed-age group and a patient adult. A quiet companion to The Class and Summerhill School. Note: Lopez sued the director in 2003 for a share of the profits and lost.

Jess is a British Punjabi eighteen-year-old in West London who plays soccer better than anyone in her park, and her parents want her to learn to cook a full Indian dinner. She joins a women's team behind their backs, falls for her coach, and has to find a way to be both daughters at once. It's a comedy with a wedding, an ugly sports bra and a lot of heart.

Why it’s here: The film makes a joke out of the fight between family expectations and a girl's ambition, and the girl wins on her own terms. What's punk is that Jess isn't asked to choose between her people and her game. What's pedagogical is how it handles racism, sexism and homophobia in a form a family can watch together. Pairs with Persepolis and Funny Boy.