Future Focus: A resource exploring the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
This film-focused resource has been created to bring together short and engaging films, with a focus on stimulating debate around a variety of global issues.
Below are 12 films, in order of age suitability (youngest to oldest). Please note that these films have been rated by us. We recommend watching them before sharing with a wider audience.
A session plan accompanies every film. They include details about the film, a workshop outline and a visual template for participants to fill in.
No film lasts longer than 20 minutes and they were all selected by young people for young people. We welcome feedback: kate@scotdec.org.uk
An introduction to the resource can be found in this information booklet.
In a Heartbeat
Beth David
Esteban Bravo | 2017
USA | 4 min | 8 + years
English
A short animation about a boy who has a crush on another boy. There are no words. Written and directed by two students and funded through a Kickstarter campaign.
SDGs: Good Health and Well-being, Gender Equality
Genre: Short, Animation
Topics: LGBT, Relationships, Love
Haiti Tablo A
Emilio Martí López | 2015
Haiti | 6 min | 8 + years
Haitian Creole with English subtitles
This animated collage, directed by internally displaced children in Haiti, gives voice to stories of deprivation and hope.
SDGs: No Poverty, Quality Education, Clean Water and Sanitation, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities, Sustainable Cities and Communities
Genre: Animated Documentary
Topics: Access to Water, Poverty, Inequality, Education, Natural Disasters
Radi-Aid
Matt Nefdt | 2012
Norway | 4 min | 8 + years
English
Song, comedy, parody of Live Aid. Campaign group made it to challenge stereotypes. Satirical campaign and music video ‘Radi-Aid: Africa for Norway’, Radi-Aid is a campaign created by the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ Assistance Fund (SAIH).
SDGs: No Poverty, Reduced Inequalities, Partnerships for the Goals
Genre: Satirical music video
Topics: Poverty, Inequality
Smiles From a Refugee Camp
Asmaa and Saja Khaldi | 2017
Palestine | 4 min | 10 + years
Arabic with English subtitles
By taking the audience on a stroll through their city, the Khaldi twins give us a rare happy and optimistic insight into life in Gaza City, which has arguably turned into a big refugee camp over the past decades. They show the strength of the community and how the Gazans support each other.
SDGs: No Poverty, Good Health and Well-being, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities, Peace, Justice and Strong Communities
Genre: Youtube Vlog
Topics: Poverty, Community, Resistance, Social Media, Gender
Yaman
Amer Al Barzawi | 2016
Syria | 5 min | 10 + years
Arabic with English subtitles
Yaman is a young inventor. His imagination helps him survive, but life outside the world of his creation is harsh.
SDGs: Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Reduced Inequalities, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Genre: Animation – Documentary
Topics: Poverty, Peace, Conflict, Inequality
Smiles From a Refugee Camp
Michael Killen | 2016
USA | 12 min | 12 + years
English
Martin, a stay at home dog, questions whether his life matters or not. Martin struggles with all complexities of life as humans do, but through the eyes of a dog.
SDGs: Good Health and Well-being
Genre: Spoof
Topics: Meaning of life, Challenges, Worries, Love, Complexities of Life
Coward
Katie Frances Orr | 2015
USA | 6 min | 12 + years
English
Coward asks whether happiness is a choice for Frankee. It explores how to deal with mental health issues and emotional baggage, and what it means to be happy and feel useful in society.
SDGs: Good Health and Well-being, Gender Equality
Genre: Short, experimental
Topics: Mental Health, Gender Equality
Unravel
Meghna Gupta | 2016
India | 14 min | 12 + years
Jatu, Punjabi with English subtitles
This is the final resting place of your cast-off clothing. When people in the West throw their clothes away, their cast-offs often go on a journey east, across the oceans, to India’s industrial interior. Garment recyclers take huge bundles of clothes donated from across the world, and turn them into wool. With little exposure to Western culture other than the Discovery Channel, the garment recyclers rely on their imagination and the rumours that travel with the cast-offs to create an intriguing perspective on the West.
SDGs: No Poverty, Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities, Decent Work and Economic, Responsible Consumption and Production
Genre: Documentary
Topics: Inequality, Poverty, Gender, Responsible Consumption
So you Thing You Can Stay
Norwegian Organisation for Asylum Seekers/Fantefilm | 2015 | Norway | 3 min | 12 + years
Norwegian with English Subtitles
Amir Najjer was tortured by masked men and accused of cooperating with Israeli troops. In Norway, his application for asylum has been rejected. The authorities say he can go to Gaza, although UNHCR recommends that no one is returned there. Now Amir has entered the game show So You Think You Can Stay and hopes the Norwegian public will think differently about his case.
SDGs: Good Health and Well-being, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Genre: Spoof
Topics: Migration
Hidden
Hanna Heilborn, David Aronowitsch, Mats Johansson | 2002 | Sweden | 8 min | 12 + years | Spanish and Swedish with English subtitles
This animation deals with the experience of migrants threatened with deportation back to their home country and the effects this has on their lives as they live in limbo. At the heart of the film is young Giancarlo who answers the filmmakers’ questions about his life back in Peru and his fears and difficulties with his school life in Sweden.
SDGs: No Poverty, Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities
Genre: Animated Documentary
Topics: Poverty, Health and Well-being, Education, Inequality, Migration, Human Rights
Listen
Hamy Ramezan, Rungano Nyoni | 2015 | Finland and Denmark | 13 min | 12 + years
Dutch and Arabic – English subtitles
Fearing for her life, a woman wearing a burqa attends a police station with her son. She is begging for help to escape what she claims is an abusive marriage. She describes her ordeal to her appointed translator. The translator mistranslates and does not report the abuse. The translator manipulates the police, saying the woman won’t trust them. The police are initially sympathetic to the woman. The woman becomes desperate and raises her voice. The police become frustrated and angry. She becomes suspicious and says she wants her son to translate he tells them that she doesn’t believe the translator is translating accurately. He refuses to translate for her – telling the police that their conversation is private.
SDGs: Good Health and Well-being, Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities
Genre: Animation – Documentary
Topics: Domestic Violence, Disempowerment, Gender Equality
Luchadora
River Finlay | 2015
Mexico | 12 min | 15 + years
Spanish
Luna Magica, a professional Lucha Libre wrestling star in Mexico, dreams of becoming a world wrestling champion while fighting to make ends meet as a single mum.
SDGs: Quality Education, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities
Genre: Documentary
Topics: Gender, Poverty, Inequality, Domestic Abuse
This resource is funded by:
The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Scotdec and can’t in any way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission.