Children Underground
Synopsis: Documentary that follows five of the estimated 20,000 children that live on the streets of Bucharest, Romania.
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Review
In this Oscar nominated documentary American director Edet Betzberg follows five children that live in and around a train station in Bucharest, Romania. The problem of homeless children in Romania increased after dictator Nicolei Ceaucescu decided to ban contraceptives. This caused thousands of children to be born to impoverished and dysfunctional families, and today an estimated 20,000 children live in the streets of Bucharest.
The children spend their days begging, they are frequently beaten by those who pass by or even by store owners who can’t tolerate to have them around their shops. With almost no exception they spend the little bit of money they make on Aurolac, a cheap paint that they inhale day in and out. At night they sleep on cardboard boxes inside the station. Some of these children have families that they elected to leave. In one case, two little siblings, a girl of 10 and a boy of 5, are taken by social workers to visit to their home to the dismay of their parents, who right from the start claim that they don’t have the means to provide for them, and that the children prefer to be on the streets anyway.
Children Underground is a very difficult film to watch, the director managed to become “invisible” and was able to capture the raw reality that is the lives of these children. The DVD includes a “where are they now” feature that reports on a more recent trip the director made to Bucharest.
©2008 by Miguel Grinberg
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