Asphalt children in Bucharest

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Movie
German title Asphalt children in Bucharest
Original title Children Underground
Country of production United States
original language Romanian
Publishing year 2001
length 104 minutes
Rod
Director Edet Belzberg
music Joel Goodman
camera Wolfgang hero
cut Jonathan Oppenheim

Asphaltkinder in Bucharest (original title Children Underground , English Kinder im Untergrund ) is an American documentary about street children in Romania by Edet Belzberg from 2001 . The film was nominated for an Oscar in the category of best documentary at the 2002 Academy Awards.

action

The film follows five adolescents over a period of one year. The street children live in Bucharest and form a loose clique . Each person is portrayed and individual impairments or experiences, as well as wishes and hopes , are presented.

The group of children consists of Cristina, 16, who has lived on the street since she was 11 and adapts her appearance to a stereotypical masculinity in order to protect herself from rape . She tries to take on the role of mother for the younger ones in the group. Violeta, 14, is heavily addicted to drugs and grew up with Cristina in the same orphanage . Mihai is 12 years old and tries to live without drugs . He dreams of school and a job . Ana, 10, and Marian, 8, are siblings whose parents are visited and portrayed. The children fled violence at home.

background

Asphalt children in Bucharest has already towards the end of 1990 year turned . As a result of the "despotic circumstances of the Socialist Republic of Romania ", the situation of society is placed in a historical context: Abortions and contraception were forbidden in order to increase the "labor of the people" - the protagonists of the documentation represent the generation of unwanted children, which resulted from this, and are exemplary for the 30,000 street children in Bucharest at that time

In the end credits of the film, the filmmakers' attitude towards the possibility of intervening against the suffering of the actors is discussed:

"The decision not to intervene was one of the biggest personal challenges I faced in making this film, I realized early on that if we were to intervene, it would make a difference for the children only in the very short term, and meanwhile, because the crises were so relentless, the film would not get made. "

“The decision not to intervene was one of the greatest personal challenges I faced while making the film. I realized early on that an intervention would only have a very short effect on the children - and meanwhile, because the crises were so relentless, the film would not be finished. "

- Edet Belzberg

Awards

Won
Nominated

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stephen Holden: Children Underground (2001) - FILM REVIEW; Homeless and Helpless in Romania , The New York Times website, September 19, 2001. Retrieved November 13, 2016.