Produced to benefit Unicef and the World Food programme, this compendium film comprises seven films of 15-20 minutes about children who, as the title suggests, live hardscrabble or oppressed lives below the radar of adult society.
The films are set in Balkan Romany, Brazil, Naples, Brooklyn and unspecifiedlocations in Africa, China and the UK, and tell various stories in which the dogged survival instincts of their main characters are simultaneously cheering and sobering.
The sequences are in equal parts heartwarming and heartrending. But the didactic approach and what seems to be a requirement for an upbeat ending, conspire to lend a slightly worthy tone to proceedings. A case in point is Lee's knuckle-whitening and harrowing story of a kid from the projects, HIV-positive from birth and living with two junkie parents, which culminates in a kids-in-recovery group.
The film by Lund, co-director of City of God, is the exception: assisted by two brilliant child performances, she strikes just the right note with a day-in-the-life of rubbish-sifting kids in the slums.
Directors: Mehdi Charef, Emir Kusturica, Spike Lee, Katia Lund, Jordan Scott, Ridley Scott, Stefano Veneruso, John Woo
Running time: 123 mins
Rating: M, content may disturb
Screening: Academy
Verdict: Sequence of short films by name directors about lives of kids on four continents is worthy but almost dull
