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Children Underground

Play trailer Poster for Children Underground Released Jan 16, 2001 1h 44m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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94% Tomatometer 17 Reviews 92% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
After the fall of communism in Romania, unwanted children in state orphanages escaped into the streets. These children are the subject of this documentary, which follows them into a subterranean world of hierarchy, hunger and drug use. The film focuses on five diverse children, including 12-year-old Mihai, who ran away from home due to his father's beatings, and Cristina, who passes for a boy. The filmmakers follow and record their daily lives, and the strained possibilities for reintegration.

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Children Underground

Critics Reviews

View All (17) Critics Reviews
Peter Rainer New York Magazine/Vulture Almost unbearably sad. Jun 16, 2002 Full Review Geoff Pevere Toronto Star Heartbreaking, urgent, unsentimental and unflinching. Jan 18, 2002 Full Review Robert Koehler Variety Edet Belzberg's fearless aesthetic is also a measure of her film's brilliant indictment of any society that can allow its most vulnerable to slip into oblivion. Sep 24, 2001 Full Review Christopher Null Filmcritic.com Rated: 2/5 Jan 1, 2006 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 3/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jul 1, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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delysid d Sad and shocking. Very cool documentary Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/26/17 Full Review Audience Member This would bring tears to a glass eye. A very, very sad situation for the children profiled here. Living in a subway station and huffing paint fumes all day. I can't even imagine living that kind of existence. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member An estimated 20,000 children are living homeless in Bucharest due in part to the illegalization of contraceptives and abortions. These are a few of their unbelievable stories. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the best (and saddest) documentaries I've ever seen. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member This powerful film documents the life of homeless children and will leave you reevaluating your perception of homelessness, drug use, and mental illness. At times, the movie is almost too intense to watch, as children are neglected, disregarded, and abused. However, when the camera finds these kids years later and more grown up, you empathize with their lost and broken mental state in a way I've never felt so acutely. It is easy to disregard our societal 'others' as insane or simply bad. Children Underground left me questioning this understanding and trying to place the homeless, insane, and criminal we all try to ignore in the light of their past experiences and our shared humanity. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member This documentary is absolutely gut wrenching. It is amazing what people can walk by and ignore. It is amazing how people can beat children in such an inhumane way. This film seriously broke my heart. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Children Underground

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Children Underground

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Movie Info

Synopsis After the fall of communism in Romania, unwanted children in state orphanages escaped into the streets. These children are the subject of this documentary, which follows them into a subterranean world of hierarchy, hunger and drug use. The film focuses on five diverse children, including 12-year-old Mihai, who ran away from home due to his father's beatings, and Cristina, who passes for a boy. The filmmakers follow and record their daily lives, and the strained possibilities for reintegration.
Director
Edet Belzberg
Producer
Edet Belzberg
Distributor
Red Horse Inc.
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Romanian
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 16, 2001, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2016
Runtime
1h 44m
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