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.)

Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory...