|
|
Children Underground (NY Premiere)
Edet Belzberg - US - 2000 - 103m - 35mm - documentary
In Romanian with English subtitles
Venturing below the streets of Bucharest, Romania to the infamous Piata Victoriei subway station, filmmaker Edet Belzberg introduces us to five members of a "family" of orphaned, abandoned, and runaway children living there. The children beg and steal to buy food and Aurolac, which they sniff to get high. Cristina uses her rough boyish look and physical size to enforce her position as ringleader of the group. Mihai, the most reflective, regrets having left his mother and sister to the whims of his violent father and dreams of a conventional life and family. Ana fled terrible poverty and assumes a motherly role toward Marian, her young brother. Finally, Macarena has lost nearly all sense of herself after four mind-numbing years of homelessness. In this striking cinema verite documentary, Belzberg reflects on the difficult problem of youth homelessness at the beginning of a new millennium, where children with highly developed skills of survival are addicted to life on the street. Winner of the 2001 Sundance Special Jury Prize for Documentary. Opening at Film Forum on September 19th, 2001
Click here to read more about Human Rights Watch's work on this issue.
Return to HRWIFF NY Schedule/Calendar
|
How to
purchase tickets
|
|
