Something Better to Come

Overview

Moscow is dubbed one of the world's most expensive cities, it's a place where the extremes of Russia meet. On one hand, there is luxury, wealth, and gaudy glamour, on the other hand corruption, poverty and the gloom of Khrushchev-era apartment blocks. Nowhere is the disparity between rich and poor more apparent than on the Svalka, a giant rubbish dump on the outskirts of Moscow. Europe's largest rubbish dump is home to an entire community of people. The Oscar-nominated Polish director Hanna Polak has spend a considerable amount of time getting to know them, earning their trust and filming the life of one of the girls, Yula, over 14 years.

With Polak's help, we enter a world otherwise almost unimaginable to us, a place that that looks like the setting of a post-apocalyptic film, rather than a home to families and children. We learn about Yula's aspirations for a life beyond the Svalka, about true resilience, dignity and resourcefulness. Something Better to Come serves as a reminder of the poverty and hardship that exists and hidden just out of sight.

Hanna Polak has devoted much of her life to helping children who don't have a family, a home or love in their lives. Her heartbreaking 2004 documentary Children of Leningradsky earned her a host of awards and led her to found Active Child Aid.