''New Boy'' is a 2007 Irish short film based on the short story by Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter,

Roddy Doyle Roddy Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been ma ...

. It received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for

Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

. The film is about a young boy's experience as he moves from a

rural town In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

: a new country, a different school system and a whole new set of customs.

Plot

Joseph is the new student at a school in

, having just moved to Ireland from an unidentified country in

. Throughout the film he is silent, in deep contrast to the flashbacks of his life back in Africa where he is bright and talkative. In these flashbacks Joseph's father is the schoolteacher, it is revealed that his father was shot and killed for educating young children. Joseph struggles to fit in with the other students. In particular two boys named Seth Quinn and Christian Kelly give him trouble, Christian sits behind Joseph in the classroom. He calls Joseph

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

, a reference to the benefit concert to raise funds for relief of the

Ethiopian Famine Famines in Ethiopia have occurred periodically throughout the history of the country, which was formerly known as Abyssinia. The economy was based on subsistence agriculture, with an aristocracy that consumed the surplus. Due to a number of caus ...

. Christian goads Joseph into grabbing onto his finger and throwing him to the ground, getting Joseph into trouble. A girl named Hazel O'Hara has caught Joseph's interest. She repeatedly tells the teacher that Christian has been giving Joseph trouble yet the teachers pays barely any heed. When the children go out for recess, milk is thrown at Joseph before he is surrounded by a throng of children. Seth and Christian attempt to fight Joseph before the teacher intercepts them. As the three boys stand in the hallway, they begin to bond by mocking the teacher's eccentric ways. They laugh as Hazel O'Hara attempts to persuade the teacher that Christian is guilty. Joseph finally smiles, knowing he has now made friends.

References

External links

* 2007 films Irish short films Films directed by Steph Green Films with screenplays by Steph Green Films based on short fiction 2000s English-language films {{Short-film-stub