The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
A rebellious youth, sentenced to a boy’s reformatory for robbing a bakery, rises through the ranks of the institution by impressing its Governor through his prowess as a long distance runner. He is encouraged to compete in an upcoming race, but faces ridicule from his peers.
Borstal Boy
Brendan Behan, a sixteen year-old IRA foot soldier, is going on a bombing mission from Ireland to Liverpool during the second world war. His mission is thwarted when he is apprehended, charged and imprisoned in Borstal, a reform institution for young offenders in East Anglia, England.
Sanctuary
Summer 1968. 14-year-old Wolfgang is deported from his family in the secluded Church Welfare Institution sanctuary. One thing is clear for Wolfgang: His yearning for freedom, he will not soon buried in the bog.
Scrubbers
Inmates fight, pair off, try suicide and attempt escape at a British reform school for girls.
A Week in the Life of Martin Cluxton
Based on real stories, using both actors and non-actors, and filmed on location in Dublin, A Week in the Life of Martin Cluxton (1971) is a rare example of Irish social realism. After years in an industrial school, Martin Cluxton (Derek King) returns home to Dublin but finds considerable prejudice and little opportunity. Broadcast on RTÉ, it was directed by Brian MacLochlainn, co-written by Caoimhín Ó Marcaigh and MacLochlainn, with music by jazz great Louis Stewart.