Naked Childhood is a 1968 French film. It was the feature-length debut of director Maurice Pialat, and was written by Pialat and Arlette Langmann. François Truffaut was one of the film's producers.

Plot

The ten-year-old François is a child of the French foster care system after having been abandoned by his mother before the film begins. At the start of the film, François lives with a foster family - the Joingnys, who have a daughter of similar age to François. François is soon kicked out of this foster home after dropping a cat down a flight of stairs and other cruel acts such as vandalism and theft, although some of François's good character is seen upon his actions in nursing the cat he dropped and giving a gift to his foster mother upon leaving. Back in the foster care system, François is sent to live with the older Thierrys who foster an older boy by the name of Raoul and care for their sickly mother. In this environment, François acts much less troubled and the kindness that was hinted at earlier in the film begins to show through his troubled nature as he helps to care for the elderly Nana. Seemingly content in his new home, François nonetheless gives the viewer a sense that even this placement cannot last forever.