Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary gives the viewer a glimpse into the squalid world of homeless children in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia. Children can be seen helping each other out of sewer manholes, are interviewed concerning the circumstances that lead to their running away from their families, and shown scouring the dump for food and items that can be sold. It’s certainly unsettling to see dump scraps consumed on screen and barely believable that these street children choose independence in the stench and warmth of the sewers over life in the shelters. The film depicts the world of the underground child, gives some background into the political and social circumstances (withdrawal of Soviet support following 1990 and the capitalist economic reform of 1995 that produced great poverty in Mongolia, driving some 3,000 children underground), and their escape from alcoholic and abusive parents. Thousands of children without hope, living lives that are well beyond redemption by the few social service and religious agencies in Ulan Bator. Philippine priest, Father Gilbert, feels he can reach a few children new to the underground, but has no hope of attracting any child to the shelters who has been underground six months or longer. The film’s strength is in its hard-hitting factual approach in exploring its subject: nothing sentimental or maudlin, simply the facts. The viewer must make a personal assessment of the horror and hopelessness of life in the underground in Ulan Bator based on the evidence presented in the film.

The quality of the audio and video is excellent. Voiceovers for translations are nicely done. The photography in the sewers, apparently by candlelight alone, is exceptional. Editing also is excellent, though a bit longer running time could possibly have made the viewer’s ultimate assessment of the tragedy of these wasted young lives more immediate.

This film will enhance Asian collections in college and university libraries. It can serve as a stimulus in any discussion on world societies, capitalism, or the political and social impacts from the deconstruction of the former Soviet Union. Also fits well with any discussion or unit on homelessness and poverty.