Under the Udala Trees

On the Italian island of Lampedusa, a twelve-year-old boy learns to use a slingshot, a doctor treats seasick islanders, and a radio operator hears distress calls from boats in the Mediterranean. The film cuts between the island's daily life and the coast guard rescuing people from overloaded boats. It won the Golden Bear at Berlin.

Why it’s here: The film holds two worlds side by side and refuses to explain either: the island that goes on with its life, and the people who arrive. What's punk is the refusal of voiceover and the absence of a rescue narrative. What's pedagogical is that students can discuss what the camera chooses to look at. Companion to Exit West and Solito. Note: slow and quiet, with scenes of bodies from a rescue.

In 2001 in Malawi, a drought and a failed harvest hit William Kamkwamba's family, and he is forced to leave school because his father can't pay the fees. He keeps going to the library, reads about windmills, and builds one from scrap to pump water for the village. Based on the true story and the memoir.

Why it’s here: It is a companion to the book (suggested 10-17), and it shows what learning looks like when the school has been taken away. What's punk is a boy who treats a library like a workshop. What's pedagogical is the method: read, try, break, try again. Pairs with Deschooling Society, Lifelong Kindergarten and The Having of Wonderful Ideas. Note: a family drama with starvation and a government that fails the village; the film adds some drama to the real events, and its 'inventor saves the village' arc is the kind of story to talk through with kids.