Late 70s-80s sci fi drama movie about kids in spaceship since Earth had become uninhabitable

Question

I saw this film that was shown on a projector when I was in about 2nd grade (in the 90s) that was so moving it stuck with me since. I’d love to be able to find it. I don’t believe it had been made recently but I’m not certain (could have been made in the 70s-early 90s). I don’t remember many details but that much of it was shot pretty darkly and it was dramatic.

It took place on some kind of space colony or spaceship since Earth had become uninhabitable. There were kids on it, one of whom remembered Earth and I believe I remember something about them having to get UV artificial un treatment.

Answer 1

I think (based on you saying 'space colony or spaceship' and 'one kid remembering Earth' and also the UV sunlamp) that you actually watched "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury.

From Wikipedia:

"All Summer in a Day" is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury, first published in the March 1954 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

And the plot synopsis from there:

The story is about a class of students on Venus, which, in this story, is a world of constant rainstorms, where the Sun is visible for only one hour every seven years.

One of the children, Margot, moved to Venus from Earth five years earlier, and she is the only one in her class to remember sunshine, since the Sun shone regularly on Earth. She describes the Sun as "a penny", or "like a fire in the stove", and relays in a poem to the class that "I think the sun is a flower/That blooms for just one hour". The other children, being too young ever to have seen it themselves, do not believe her. The other students, in particular a boy named William, bully and ostracize her, and just before the sun comes out, William rallies the other children and they lock her in a closet down a tunnel.

As the Sun is about to appear, their teacher arrives to take the class outside to enjoy their two hours of sunshine and, in their astonishment and joy, they all forget about Margot. They run, play, skip, jump, and prance about, savoring every second of their newly found freedoms. "Oh, it's better than the sunlamps, isn't it?" one of them cries.

Suddenly, a girl catches a raindrop in her hands. Thunder sounds, then the lightning comes, and the children run back inside as the sun disappears and it starts to pour again. At this point, one of them remembers Margot, who is still locked in the closet. Ashamed, they let her out of the closet, standing frozen, embarrassed over what they have done and unable to "meet each other's glances."

The precious Sun has come and gone, and because of their despicable act, Margot, who loved the Sun the most, has missed it.

Wikipedia also mentions it was adapted into a 30 minute show for TV:

A 30-minute television adaptation, originally broadcast on the PBS' children's series WonderWorks in 1982. The ending is expanded to show the children atoning for their horrible act by giving Margot flowers that they picked while the Sun was out.

Answer 2

When I hear of a space movie involving kids, my brain immediately jumps towards Earth Star Voyager, a 1988 TV pilot by Disney.

In the year 2082, the Earth deep-space exploration vessel, Vanguard Explorer, has suffered heavy damage, due to the efforts of Captain Jacob 'Jake' Brown trying to keep his ship out of the hands of mutineers led by his second-in- command, Vance Arthur. Feigning compliance, Jake attacks Vance and knocks him senseless long enough for him to get to an escape pod and launch into space. However, the cause of the damage on board the Vanguard Explorer is unknown.

The German-language VHS introduces the plot: "In year 2087. The Earth is dying. They must find a new planet." It is now six years later, in the year 2088. Command cadet Jonathan Hays, twenty-one, and his best friend Jessie 'Beanie' Bienstock, a 14-year-old computer specialist, are among the young military cadets chosen to serve as the crew of Earth*Star Voyager, the planet's newest interstellar vessel. Due to worsening ecological conditions on Earth, there is a plan in place to evacuate the planet and colonize another world. (This mission is noted on the cover of the German VHS: see image at right). Probes have been sent out six years ago via the Vanguard Explorer, and one has sent data back on Berenson's Star; she has a life-zone planet which has been named 'Demeter'. The mission of Earth*Star Voyager is to go to Demeter, perform a full planetary survey and return that information because if conditions on Demeter prove accurate (the probe's data indicates that human life could survive on Demeter), then the human race will colonize the world. The plan to colonize Demeter has already begun; ships are already being built to transport the population but will take forty years to complete construction of all the necessary vessels, and the trip to Demeter, with 'plasma-thrust' engines and the Bauman Drive (named for Professor Bauman, the creator) will take 26 years. That was the rationale of choosing the crew from the Academy—for their youth and intelligence. Jonathan, as second-in-command, will assume command if Forbes is shown to be unable to continue his duties due to age. It is also mentioned that a modified form of cryogenic suspension will be used by the crew during the voyage in order to slow the ageing process. (Beanie mentions that he'll be forty years old upon their return to Earth, and Captain Forbes also mentions that, although the process will slow their ageing, they will still age.)

They are traveling through space because Earth is in bad environmental shape. Due to various mutinous events, most of the adults are eliminated and the teenage cadets run more of the ship's duties. Part of the plot takes place on a space station, "the 2020 World's Fair". I don't yet remember any specific mention of UV lamps as treatment, and it's a bit later of a film than you remember.