Films & Events
Manhole Children
Special Jury Prize - SIFF 2009 Documentary Competition
Jury Statement: For its emotionally brutal depiction of children surviving underground in Mongolia; the film both repulses and engages at the same time.
The Soviet Union’s fall in the early 1990s forced Mongolia to make a sudden transition to a capitalist economy. This rapid introduction of a free market produced overwhelming economic confusion, causing unprecedented levels of unemployment and plunging nearly half the population into poverty. By the winter of 1998, thousands of abandoned children were living under the streets of the capitol, Ulan Bator. With winter temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero, the manholes provide access to a vast network of steam pipes that heat the city’s homes, allowing the children to survive. Living literally underground in a lawless no man’s land of theft and violence, the children form packs in order to stay alive. Shot over ten years, the film traces the lives of Boldoo, Dashaa, and Oyun, three of these “manhole children,” who reach adulthood while living on the street. Often the best documentaries unwrap themselves, simply observing as layer upon layer of complexity is revealed. With a complexity that can only be achieved through diligence and patience, the film shows how the lives of these three children intertwine in surprising ways, laying bare the intricate webs of dreams, friendships, betrayals, violence, and love that shape their lives.
Cast & Crew
Director: Taro Yakahashi
Producer: Hideya Yamaguchi
Editor: Yasuo Sato
Cinematographer: Satoru Yoneya, Hiroshi Sunayama
Filmography: Debut Feature Film
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