Song for a Raggy Boy

This feature film staged in 1939 is based ona true story. In a horrible Irish reformatory school for boys a horrific regime and mentality reigns. A new teacher who just returned from fighting in the Spanish civil war against Franco's fascism introduces a new more liberating appeoach to children, but the frustrated sadistic head master cannot fit this into his repressive ideas. One of the pupils is quite intelligent and artistic and slowly gains inspiration from and trust in the new teacher, and he gets to develop his interest in poetry.  All positiveness and growth potential enrages the sadistic head master with dire consequences for the children. In the end there is a lot of grief, but also some hope. The reason that I put this film in the Empathy Library is that the film allows you to identify with the inspiring main characters and feel their adversity and pain in the rotten regime. It is therefore the film that works best for me to develop my empathy.