El Polaquito

Juan Carlos Desanzo's 2003 Argentine film follows a boy living around the railway stations of Buenos Aires. Polaquito, thirteen, collects money singing tango on commuter trains and has to hand most of it to the men who put children to work at the station. He meets a girl of sixteen who is being forced into prostitution inside the same arrangement, and sets his mind on getting her out. The film does not turn the condition of street children into a fable of rescue, showing that no help arrives from outside and that the structure includes the police. The telling is realistic and hard, while the tango scenes carry an unexpected beauty. Constitución station and its surroundings are shot with documentary attention. Who it's for: viewers who can take Latin American social drama. Who it's not for: anyone who would rather not approach child exploitation and prostitution; the film puts them at the centre.