Progress report:
I guess trying to compile a list of foreign-language films for children is a rather quixotic endeavor, but I have a list of roughly 250 titles.
I limited myself to movies I have seen (though I may not remember them all that well). The Wikipedia's comparison table of rating systems of different countries:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_pi ... ing_system plus the parental guides and multi-country certifications for individual titles on IMDb were helpful.
Questions of availability aside, it became evident that I should focus on an age group that straddles the PG/PG-13 range, say ages 11-15. A reasonable degree of literacy is required if subtitles are involved. Kids just getting into puberty are not necessarily ready to engage with questions of sexuality; there are many other avenues of exploration that may interest them more. My target audience has some motivation to be interested in other cultures, and possibly adult resources to offer guidance.
One of the richest cinemas dealing with children and adolescents is Iran - partly because the allowed subject matter is so limited. But most of the children have challenges, some severe.
Here is the iranian part of my list:
These are in the PG range
Ayneh / The mirror [PG]
Bacheha-Ye aseman / Children of heaven (97) PG
Badkonake sefid / The white balloon (1995) G/PG
Khane-ye doust kodjast? / Where is the friend’s home? (87)
Khomreh / The jar (92) [Swe=G] school story
Oppression of girls:
Offside (Iran 06) PG
Sib / The apple (1998) [PG]
Buda as sharm foru rikht (2007) [PG] [set in Afghanistan]
Alpha boys exploiting peers:
Saz dahani / Harmonica (74) [no info - PG]
Mossafer / The traveler (74) [PG/-13?]
Blind children:
Rang-e khoda / The color of paradise (99) PG
Sokout / The silence (Iran/Tajikistan 98) PG
War orphan adjusting to new family & vice versa:
Bashu, gharibeye koochak / Bashu, the kuttke stranger (1990)
Survival stories:
Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand / Turtles can fly (04) PG-13
Aab, baad, khaak (89) [youngster surviving in drought]
Davandeh / The runner (1984) o
Sag-haye velgard / Stray dogs (Iran 04) PG-13 [children surviving in Afghanistan]
Zamani barayé masti asbha / A time for drunken horses (00) [Sw-Nor 11 / UK PG]
Niaz / The need (Iran 92)
Other (not about children):
Kasi az gorbehaye irani khabar nadareh / No one knows about Persian cats (Iran 09) PG - underground music scene
Marmoulak / The lizard (04) - comedy: escaped criminal posing as imam (cf Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob)
Darbare 111 dokhtar / 111 girls (2012) can be enjoyed as road movie (Kurds outfoxing the Big Cheese from Tehran)
Comments would be more than welcome.