14th July, 2008

CHOE BRERETON

The Disposable Ones (TBC)

In A Word: Noteworthy

Australian rugby league professional Jason Stevens steps a little out of his comfort zone in this Compassion Australia-funded Karbon International production of The Disposable Ones. The documentary is about children; more precisely those in Colombia who are branded the detritus of society in a culture stunted by poverty, frustrated by drug related civil war, and prone to family breakdown.

Predictably, the reel casts off in Australia where, around a dinner table, Jason discusses with family his reasons for wanting to experience a short spell in Colombia. It’s the children that primarily draw him there; those abused and thrown away by society, appropriately nicknamed ‘ninos gamines’ or 'the disposable ones'. His desire is to see how poverty affects them, what their lives are really like and ultimately, to come to a conclusion about how he can help.

The documentary takes us halfway round the world and settles in two main regions of Colombia. Bogotá, the capital, with its ripe examples of poverty, and Cartagena, where prostitution, both child and adult constitutes standard living.

The transition from Australia to Colombia is quick and equally swift is the sudden enrichment of colour as the footage dissolves out of Jason’s family home into the vibrant streets of Colombia. Bogotá is undoubtedly beautiful in parts, with a Manhattanesque spread of high rises from the skies, and more apparent ancient architectural design on the ground. But the enticing red roofs and painted houses give an impression contrary to the truth that is reality for many of Colombia’s inhabitants. Look closer, and you will see the riverbanks choked with rubbish, and cracked paint peeling off the walls. Evidently it is this alternate reality that Jason has come to unearth and he promptly does so after some customary touristy faux pas, a humorous medley of getting lost, expecting punctuality, and kissing his male guide on the cheek, thinking it was custom.

Harry is Jason’s guide, a native of Colombia and once a Compassion-sponsored child. When next they meet they journey together to the outskirts of Bogotá where the realities of poverty twist sharply into focus. It is not long before the prosperous looking cityscape falls behind giving way to dilapidated buildings, brick shantytowns, scrawny chickens and idle children. Harry describes the area as a desperate and unsafe place. In the thick of it they meet Carlos Eduardo Escobar who runs a Compassion project in this Harlem of Bogotá.

From the hills where Carlos is situated, the camera in one sweep pans over the wealthy and the not so wealthy. Seventy per cent of Colombians live in poverty, Carlos explains, equating to about 5 million people. Poverty, he adds, is the main reason for the violence that Colombia has been suffering for the past 60 years and the shantytown is the inevitable result of displaced people. Rusted corrugated iron roofs, plastic sheathing held down with rocks, and walls constructed from sturdy trash constitutes a home in this region of Bogotá. Six to seven people live in a space no larger than an ample closet. There is no electricity and no running water. The need for a Compassion project is evident. Children barely eat once a day and some are now involved in delinquency, robbery, prostitution, illegal paramilitary activities and selling drugs just as a means of survival.

The documentary to an extent also addresses Colombia’s prolific sex trade, where children are typically the ones exploited. Some as young as five and six are roped into prostitution and Internet pornography to fill a market largely driven by visitors from developed countries. Carlos is evidently concerned and affirms the great and necessary work that Compassion is doing in the area.

The Disposable Ones brings to the fore the second-class status of Children in Colombia. People are used to turning a blind eye, propagating in turn the decline in protection afforded to these minors. Football acts as one outlet, an ideal for the boys at least to aspire to and an activity that keeps them out of trouble. Education, however, remains difficult to come by as it all unavoidably boils down to money.

On several occasions Jason stands out like the big friendly giant against a backdrop of people who are characteristically slight. Unfortunately his video diaries show very little reflection on what he has seen or experienced and, as far as documentaries go, the reporting seems a little shallow for an issue that is evidently very deep. That said, however, the fim features some incredible cinematography and it is encouraging to see what Compassion are doing for the children who obviously have no other hope. Every child, it seems, aspires to a dream; to have a better life for themselves and for their family.

As the documentary begins to wind down it moves onto Cartagena, a district full of beautiful beaches and boutiques, where young women customarily sell themselves on the streets at night so that they can eat and so that their children can eat. A normal job, explains one woman fished off her beat, will not be enough to feed her four children. To get a good job she says, you have to be influential.

The segment on Cartagena seems brief, studded with contrasting footage of young people having a good time whilst their less fortunate piers lean across to talk to strangers through a crack in a car window. It is a dichotomous city, made up of the very best and the very worst of everything. While Jason and Harry finish up by boarding a party bus for one last swing of the sites, they leave behind young girls and women who make a living from being violated and abused. Jason’s video diary that evening is full of talk about his underwear - sadly, he barely mentions what obviously passed him by on the streets of Cartagena.

There is little doubt that The Disposable Ones gets the message across. Karbon International uses clever imagery as the footage creatively rifles through scenes of typical Colombian life. The tanned faces of its inhabitants, the giggling girls in vests with shoestring straps, and the superficial beauty of the country that belies a far more disturbing truth. We meet children who have done it tough but despite all odds have survived what has been thrown at them. Does it bring home the complete reality of their experiences? Not entirely, but I consider that a good thing. What the documentary leaves out in the name of good taste, the imagination can adequately surmise.

The Disposable Ones is part of the Hoyts ‘Faith on Film Festival 08’. Visit www.disposableones.com for more information.

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