I wonder if anyone can help me with some work I'm doing - which films depict the experiences of children affected by war in the developing world? I have seen Johnny Mad Dog, but few others come to mind...
You could try Cry Freetown. It is a more general documentary about the civil war in Sierra Leone, but if you know anything about that conflict you'll know that children obviously have to form a significant part of its focus.
I have read that Children of War is very good, but I haven't seen it, so can't vouch for it personally.
I suppose you can't really count 1940s Japan as developing (although a lot of the people were certainly extremely impoverished), but Grave of the Fireflies is pretty much the best portrayal of a child's perspective of war I've seen in a film.
Again, Germany Year Zero is set in immediate post-WWII Berlin, so doesn't really count as the developing world, but is another good example of the effect of war on children.
Most of the films I can think of involving children in war are set in WWII Europe actually, so I don't know how much use they'd be to you. You could try Au Revoir Les Enfants, Come and See, and Ivan's Childhood if you can't find anything better.
A better bet than looking for theatrical films might be to seek out TV documentaries. A series like Unreported World on Channel 4 might have some suitable episodes. I know they did one on the role of the LRA in kidnapping children to use as soldiers in the DRC. That was earlier this year or maybe last year I think. You should be able to find it on 4oD if you're in the UK.
EDIT: Just noticed that mistersloane already suggested half of these. Sorry for the repetition!
Big movie. One of the greatest to feature a pop star. Now trying to think of others....
Head is good with popstars galore. Well, The Monkees and Frank Zappa."Big movie. One of the greatest to feature a pop star. Now trying to think of others.... "
Watched the rest of it yesterday and it was ace. I think I preferred it to the, thematically similar (superficially at least) if stylistically different, 8 1/2. It's made on a beautiful set with loads of characters whose interactions we see without ever really knowing their whole stories - although bits of them swim into view from time to time - and lots of moments of sly humour plus references to other films. Fassbinder (who was only 26 when he made it apparently!) plays the on-set fixer and already his lifestyle has taken such a toll that he's able to convincingly pass for forty. For a film where nothing really happens it's an immensely entertaining study of what it means to be an artist (or director) and how artistic success and recognition can trap and warp you. Dunno what the title means though."I started watching Beware of a Holy Whore yesterday but the battery ran out on the laptop after a little while. Shame 'cause so far it seemed really good. Can't say that I'd unreservedly recommend the whole thing but I would the first twenty-eight minutes."
Big movie. One of the greatest to feature a pop star. Now trying to think of others....
Lots of good Frank Sinatra films, obviously.
Macy Gray in OutKast's Idlewild.