Director: Ferenc Moldovanyi.
“Expanding upon themes he explored in Children: Kosovo 2000 (SDFF 24), Ferenc Moldoványi’s latest documentary is at once hypnotically beautiful and acutely disturbing. Shot over a two-year period in four countries on four continents—Ecuador (South America), Mexico (North America), Democratic Republic of Congo (Africa), and Cambodia (Asia)—Another Planet unfolds as a cinematic tone poem in the tradition of Koyaanisqatsi, exposing the unequal distribution of wealth around the world as a major humanitarian crisis. Framed by pastoral sequences in which a Tarahumara shaman imparts a dream of paradise on earth, the film moves quickly and seamlessly between the lives of seven children inextricably linked by their shocking and tragic experiences of daily exploitation and abuse. We meet lonely, aimless urchins, barely eking out a living on the streets. We see child laborers toiling in brick factories, garbage dumps, and brothels, only to be beaten when business is down. And perhaps most harrowing of all, we get to know the child soldiers of Congo as they are turned into killing machines. Throughout this journey, Moldoványi’s unwavering vision reminds us of the eternal coexistence of beauty and horror all over the world. Informed by the haunting cinematography of Tibor Máthé as well as Tibor Szemzö’s ethereal soundtrack, Another Planet crosses cultural boundaries to forge a commentary on the human condition as damning as it is open-ended.” 31st Starz Denver International Film Festival Official Catalogue "This globe-spanning film hits hard on many levels—visually, intellectually, emotionally. Beautifully shot in Ecuador, Mexico, Africa and Asia, Moldoványi’s film presents images that sparkle in the eye even as they punch you in the heart. Moldoványi introduces us to children in Cambodia, Ecuador, Mexico and the Democratic Republic of Congo, each of whom is struggling to survive. Working long hours, often in dangerous and dirty conditions, these children show us a side of existence that many have never seen or even imagined. While many in the US hold childhood as a special and protected time of nurtured innocence, this film reminds us all that for many children life is a brutal and precarious game of survival. With subjects that include children scavenging dumps for recyclables, child soldiers and child sex workers, this film offers a sympathetic and unblinking eye. The children themselves are our strongest storytellers, and they open up to Moldoványi’s camera to give us their own perspective. Their frankness astonishes as they talk matter-of-factly about their jobs and the consequences of not earning. The children either are at the mercy of adults—often the parents who force them to work and beat them when they don’t earn enough—or have been abandoned by adults altogether. While the film is not a gentle journey, it imagines a better world, a greater one. The filmmaker relies on your humanity and empathy to be moved by these children, while never directly suggesting a call to action. This film offers an unprecedented opportunity to explore another planet, a trip definitely worth taking." SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival