Violations Against Childhood in Armed Conflicts, a Cinematic Outcry

Human history is inextricably linked to its wars, perhaps the greatest testament to humanity's failure. We should not remain indifferent to this outcry, and the seventh art plays a significant role in this regard. This article compiles films featured in the “Cine y Pediatría” project that focus on armed conflicts and their impact on children and adolescents.

The compilation includes sixty films classified into three categories: a) Childhood in the Spanish Civil War (and postwar), with examples such as El espíritu de la colmena (Víctor Erice, 1973), La guerra de papá (Antonio Mercero, 1977), La lengua de las mariposas (José Luis Cuerda, 1999), Las 13 rosas (Emilio Martínez-Lázaro, 2007), or El maestro que prometió el mar (Patricia Font, 2023); b) Childhood in World War II, with examples such as Germany, Year Zero (Roberto Rossellini, 1948), Ivan's Childhood (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1962), Die Biechtrommel (Volker Schlöndorff, 1979), La vita é bella (Roberto Benigni, 1997), or The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Mark Herman, 2008); c) Childhood and Other Wars, with examples such as Wild Reeds (André Téchiné, 1994), Voces inocentes (Luis Mandoki, 2004), Nacido en Gaza (Hernán Zin, 2014), Petit pays (Eric Barbier, 2020), or Belfast (Kenneth Branagh, 2021).

These cinematic stories from various filmographies blend reality and fiction, past and present. They should be recommended in schools and families (and, why not, in our pediatric consultations) to denounce the continuous violation of children's rights in wars. Through the emotions and reflections they evoke, these films encourage us to seek a peaceful world with greater harmony.