L'enfant du désert: what age is it for?
In France, zinema would say 8.
Alone, or with you
Alone from 9; from 8, with an adult or by talking about it afterwards.
What it's about
14-year-old Sun has written and successfully published a story based on an incredible story told by her late grandfather about a wild child called Hadara, who is saved by a group of ostriches when he becomes separated from his family in a storm, and is then raised in the desert amid a host of wild animals, including his best friend, a desert fox. When Sun is invited to travel to the Sahara by a local community who has heard about her book, she meets Kharouba, a Nomad girl of her own age, and realizes there may be much more to Hadara than just a character in a bedtime story.
Why 9
- A toddler lost in the stormAdara is two when his mother runs after a camel and a sandstorm carries him away. We hear him calling for his mom, and his mother screaming his name through days of searching. Everyone believes he is dead, except her. These are the hardest ten minutes of the film.shown
- Gentle deaths, but lived on screenThe old fennec Sarah, his lifelong friend, dies in Adara's arms at sunset. A cheetah killed by the ostrich Hogg is told in one sentence. And the grandfather who passed the story on has been dead for a long time.shown
- Shame, exile and the greed of adultsAdara ran from the cheetah and exiles himself in shame. Later, a producer wants to capture him and turn him into a sideshow; the journalist who protects him lies and sacrifices his career, under insults. These are adult words, with no violence.shown
What the movie brings
- A Saharan tale told to a young author by the people who lived it, between a refugee camp and the dunes
- Ostriches, fennecs and vultures filmed up close, and the ostrich dance
- Who a story belongs to, and the right to tell it
Watching it together
The first ten minutes: the storm, the child alone, the mother screaming. Say quickly that the ostriches will take him in.
at 9 and up
Who does a story belong to: the one who lived it, the one who tells it, or the one who writes it down?
See the facts
A zinema reading from September 9, 2026 · the whole movie, watched in full · the age by zinema's rules for the US and France, and a human reading · report an error · how this guide is made