Unreported World Channel 4, Fri 18th May 7:30pm - 7:55pm
Repeat: Channel 4 +1 Today 8:30pm
Repeat: Channel 4 Fri 25 May 2:10am
In June the Euro 2012 finals come to Ukraine, but Marcel Theroux’s film shows that, as is so often the case, football fans are unlikely to see the whole life of its capital, Kiev. Unicef estimates that there could be 100,000 street children living in the country. Wherever there’s a hot water pipe even remotely accessible, there seems to be a group of teenagers cleaving together for safety. Some tap into electricity and water supplies, while others make do with foraged leftovers. Many drink, sniff glue or inject drugs. Without papers or the money to pay bribes, these kids face a bleak future, and even the ones who have only been on the streets a couple of weeks seem to know it.
As Ukraine prepares for its role as joint host of the forthcoming European Football Championship, Marcel Theroux and Suemay Oram report on the problem of homelessness among teenagers of the former republic of the Soviet Union. They reveal domestic troubles and years of economic hardship have pushed these youths to the margins of society, leaving them to endure harrowing lives as members of a subterranean culture who increasingly turn to substance abuse and solicitation.
Radiotimes
