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Doing it for the Kids

Remember the Children's Film Foundation? Saturday mornings down at the local cinema, or tea-time in front of the television, there was always a crazy crime caper to keep us entertained. But the cinematic institution that gave us Keith Chegwin and flares aplenty couldn't compete with the onset of 1980s child cynicism. But that's all set to change as a revamped Children's Film and Television Foundation has been given a £900k boost to develop at least 15 children's films over the next three years.

Children have always been well served by family movies and child-friendly fun, and that continues apace with the likes of Harry Potter, but the majority are still American-financed ventures. This injection of cash will hopefully boost Britain's contribution to the genre. However, there will still be a gap in the market that this move won't fill, because it just doesn't seem to be on the British film agenda.

I hate to say it, but the American film industry is better at something than we are - the teen film. By that I mean entertaining the masses with something slick and classy that young people can relate to and enjoy, and managing to get the difficult teen market into the cinema. Over the years the US have given us The Brat Pack, a wealth of teen horror flicks and clever high school comedies. We had Cliff Richard in a cardigan, driving a London bus.

The UK has gritty teenage realism down to a fine art, with studies of social change and deprivation and the effect on our young people painting a stark and accurate picture of teenage life in Britain today. Recent films such as TwentyFourSeven, Ratcatcher and Sweet Sixteen have challenged social perceptions to critical acclaim, but these films are made for an adult audience and are never seen by the very part of society they're concerned with.

We just don't seem to get it. Young people want to be entertained, and the British film industry can't seem to deliver a homegrown solution. There have been one-off triumphs (Gregory's Girl anyone?) but there has never been a rival to the crown of 80s king of the high school genre John Hughes who directed The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off or the more modern classy teen comedies like Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That. And the crazy youth of today also seem to enjoy those crude comedies (American Pie, Road Trip) but thank goodness we don't even attempt to match that particular anomaly.

There are reasons why that kind of thing might not work over here. Anything set in a British comprehensive always looks a bit Grange Hill, and we don't want another St Trinian's on our hands. And the thought of a teen road movie set on the journey from London to Birmingham just doesn't have the same ring to it. There was an attempt at the horror genre with The Bunker and Long Time Dead, but it didn't really catch on.

So why don't we try something different, instead of relying on American imports that bear no resemblance to life in the UK. Or maybe that's the attraction? Perhaps teenage life is far more exciting with an American accent.

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