Ahmad's Hair
Syrian refugee Ahmad (12) is busy trying to make Dutch friends. It turns out he's also on a personal, heart-warming mission.
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Children's documentaries to watch for free
Explore our selection of free online children's documentaries!
Watching documentaries helps children form opinions, broadens their view, and playfully teaches them to be critical of what they are shown. Moreover, it is a great way to enhance their media literacy. That's why we're presenting a selection of IDFA's best children's documentaries, available online for free. Please not that not all films have English subtitles.
Items in this selection
Danny's Parade
Because life is boring for young gays, Danny arranges a boat for teenagers during the Amsterdam Canal Parade. Not everyone appreciates his initiative.
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Drona & Me
Drona and I is a portrait of autistic Hindu boy Drona. We'll be watching him through the eyes of Arjun, his elder brother, and so a lovingly double-portrait is formed.
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Dulce
Dulce is terrified by her first swimming lesson, but swimming is an essential life skill in her Colombian coastal village.
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Flying Anne
Eleven-year-old Anne is a cheerful girl who occasionally struggles with her Tourette syndrome: sometimes she spins in circles, or she has to lick everything in sight.
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I Feel...
Ten-year-old Robert and seven-year-old Jasmijn see and feel more than others. In a natural environment, they talk openly about their experiences.
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If You Eat Garlic, You Get Full
A profile of three street boys in Afghanistan, who eat from trashcans but share what they have with others.
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Johan
Going to scout camp for the first time is pretty intense. It’s hard to survive, but fortunately Johan has an ace up his sleeve: Rambo.
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Kids Rights: Anna
Although child labor is prohibited, nine-year-old Anna goes to work rather than school, just like 50,000 other Albanian children.
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Kids Rights: Boglárka
The documentary series 'Kids Rights' focuses on cases of children whose rights are not ensured. Boglárka is a blind girl that lives in the countryside of Hungary. Four times a year she has to go all the way to Budapest to prove that she's still blind.
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Kids Rights: Gabriel
In this episode from the Kids' Rights series, we meet funk-loving 11-year-old Gabriël from Rio de Janeiro. His father is dead because he was a drug criminal.
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Laura & Anne 4 Ever
A touching tribute to Anne, 14-year-old Laura's best friend, who died of leukaemia.
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Let Me Go Home
Fourteen-year-old Sietske has been in a youth detention facility for 18 months. Soon, the day will come that she will be allowed to go outside.
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Little Miss Piggy
Eleven-year-old Brechtje lives on a pig farm, but she dreams of life in the big city.
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Mookie
Welcome to the world of nine-year-old Mookie, secret agent by trade. He catches the crooks everywhere, even in the hospital.
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Plank
The Dutch-Moroccan Nassim is a skater who dreams of becoming a pro – even though he knows Moroccans are supposed to like football and kickboxing.
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Play for Keeps
A summery portrait of eight-year-old marble players Sieme and Bence, who "play for keeps" in an exciting schoolyard game.
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Radio Amina
At the fictitious radio station Radio Amina, the 12-year-old Nigerian street peddler Amina can get everything off her chest that she normally wouldn't dare say.
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Streets
Destitute youths talk openly about their hard life on the streets of the Ecuadorian capital Quito, trying to keep their heads above water.
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That's Wicked!
Passionate young Singaporeans introduce us to the world of beatbox: the techniques, their motivations and their competition.
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Thea
Black-and-white stills tell the story of Thea, a 12-year-old girl who has severe epileptic seizures.
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True Love in Pueblo Textil
Nine-year-old Maribel explains to us how it feels to be stricken with the world's oldest infliction: love.
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Raised by Krump
A fascinating and gorgeous journey into krumping, the street dance with which dancers channel their anger and frustration.
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Frame 394
A young Canadian man entangles himself in one of the most high-profile police shootings in the U.S., when he posts his own 3-D analysis of the event on the Internet.
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Fordson
Ramadan is well underway, and at Fordson High School, where 95% of the students are of Arab origin, the football team is preparing to face off against archrival Dearborn High.
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Boy Cheerleaders
It's not always easy for England's first all-boy cheerleading team in the run-up to the national championships.
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