Our movies

FILMS  BY HANNA POLAK IN COLLABORATION WITH
ACTIVE CHILD AID

IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR US TO TREAT THE TOPIC WITH RESPECT FOR THE CHILDREN IT IS ABOUT.

“We can raise awareness of the problem of child poverty and homelessness. We can influence public opinion by delivering messages to politicians and authorities who have the resources and the opportunities to improve the situation. We can attract the attention of the media, which has tremendous power to influence public opinion and spark change for the better. Through minor efforts, we can be major advocates for change”.

Hanna Polak – founder of the Active Child Aid ( The State of The World’s – UNICEF 2010)

THE CHILDREN OF LENINGRADSKY

RUSSIA´S INVISIBLE CHILDREN

The film takes an unblinking look at the reality of homeless children living in Russia – in particular the ones who call the underground Leningradsky train station in Moscow home. Children who speak about their lives, routines and lost dreams, the film captures the sobering reality of post-Soviet Russia, as kids are left behind, get booted out of their homes, turn to prostitution, are abused, and run away. Though it has been making efforts to overcome this dire situation, the Russian system has yet to completely control it, as many young children (ages 8-16) continue to be swept into the abyss.

SOMETHING BETTER TO COME

HER NAME IS YULA. HER HOME IS THE GARBAGE DUMP.

Her home is the largest garbage dump in Europe. This is the story of her life. Ten-year-old Yula had but one dream – to lead a normal life. For 14 YEARS, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hanna Polak follows Yula as she grows up in the forbidden territory of Svalka, the garbage dump located 13 miles from the Kremlin in Putin’s Russia.

SOMETHING BETTER TO COME is Yula’s story – a dramatic tale of coming of age and maturing to the point of taking destiny into one’s own hands. It is a story of hope, courage, and life, all shot in gripping vérité style that stuns with its directness and immediacy.

Film reviews:

A strikingly visceral and plaintively moving documentary that is arresting right from its first powerful moments.
– Mark Adams for Screen Daily

This is a film that packs an emotional punch and is strikingly directed and shot by the talented Hanna Polak.
– Mark Adams for Screen Daily

An eye-opening documentary
– Neil Young for The Hollywood Reporter

An enriching experience and a remarkable project that aims and achieves to give voice to the voiceless, this film is at once strikingly real and impressively poetic due to its genuine portrayal of the situation of extreme poverty with an underlying sentiment of optimism.
– Matt Micucci for Cinecola

Each edition of the IDFA you see a few pictures and faces you will not easily forget. The tears in the eyes of Yula, growing up between the garbage in Moscow, two weeks before the birth of her first child, is such a picture.”
– Het Parool

This film will make your jaw drop, thanks to Polak’s eye for optimism, humanity and birthday cake in a context of hopelessness that can hardly be believed.” 
– Volkskrant

With this latest production from Polak, the sky is her limit.
– The Eagle Online

Impressive.
– Marie Claire