Let the Children March

In a Durham mining town during the 1984 strike, eleven-year-old Billy is sent to boxing lessons and sneaks into the ballet class next door. His father and brother are on the picket line, and the idea that Billy might dance is almost as hard for them as the strike. It is a family story, a class story and a story about who is allowed to want what.

Why it’s here: It's a film about what a community does with a kid who doesn't fit. What's punk is the strike behind the story: the film doesn't treat the picket line as a backdrop. What's pedagogical is the question it asks at the dinner table: who decides what boys are allowed to love? Pairs with Pride (suggested 10-14), The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists and Julian Is a Mermaid. Note: strike-era police violence and homophobic and gender-policing insults; PG-13 equivalent (15 in the UK).

Dublin, 1985. Fifteen-year-old Conor is moved to a rough Catholic school when his parents run out of money. To impress a girl he starts a band, writes songs and learns to play from the video clips of Duran Duran, The Cure and The Jam. A coming-of-age film about making things before you know how, with a Christian Brothers school as the backdrop.

Why it’s here: It's a film about a kid who starts a band because he can't do anything else. What's punk is the DIY spirit: terrible first songs, a music video shot with a camera and a friend, a brother who teaches him what to listen to. What's pedagogical is how the band lets him say what he can't at home or at school. Pairs with Please Kill Me, England's Dreaming and The First Rule of Punk. Note: PG-13; bullying, a priest who hits kids, and some family strife; set in 1985 Ireland.