The Stranger

In the 1990s, thousands of parents were abandoning their children while their state, Mongolia, was transforming its socialist economy into a capitalist one. Many of these children moved into manholes under the streets of Mongolia's very cold capital, Ulaanbaatar. These children would have died if not for the warmth from a system of steam pipes that heated the city's upper-class homes and businesses. The documentary focuses on the lives of three children (from 1998 to 2008). As the three get older, another form of suffering (besides poverty) begins to absorb them—lovesickness. Even here, under the freezing city, in this vicious network of steam pipes, love is a powerful and dangerous drug. (Pacific Place, 600 Pine St, thestranger.com/siff. 6:30 pm, $11.) by Charles Mudede

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