German directors Keif Davidson and Richard Ladkani approached this documentary on children mining in Bolivia from the most interesting angle. The story is told by Basilio Vargas, a 14 year old who explains why he is mining, exactly what he does in the mines and with whom. He introduces his younger brother, 12-year-old Bernardino, and little sister, who also comment on his life and its impact on them.

Central to the story also is how the miners honour the devil in an effort to stave of an accident or death while underground. Devout Catholics, the miners are fervent churchgoers and worshippers of Jesus. The town?s priest is featured explaining that they tend to pray harder and visit church more frequently in an effort to ensure they are blessed and kept safe from harm.

We see Basilio taking his younger brother to the devil effigy in the mine, teaching him to leave blessings of cocoa leaves and not to be frightened. In turn when Basilio moves to a larger mine we see his foreman taking him to the effigy there and Basilio admits he is frightened.

This is not a documentary that will leave you with the feeling that you must stamp out some evil or great injustice. It?s a story of the hard life some young children in Bolivia face just to survive. While it may tear at your heartstrings that any child has to endure such a life, it is also striking to see the tremendous amount of love and support the children featured are shown both from their family and co-workers. I fully expected to hear the children talk about how they are forced into cramped spaces to do the some of the most physically dangerous work.

This was not the case, in fact the film shows a caring foreman who takes Basilio to work in one of the safest places in the mine, because he is a child. Basilio?s mother admits that while she would prefer that her son not work she trusts the men that work there to watch out and look after him.

And the film leaves you with a sense of hope. Basilio has a thirst for his schoolwork and wants to become a teacher.

Although a short written ending says that most of the children in the mine remain working there through adulthood, I was not left with a sense of despair.

Basilio might well become a teacher, he certainly had the acumen and according to the film, he had a support group ready to sacrifice for him. Monday, March 21, 6.30 p.m. at BUEI

Thursday, March 24, 9 p.m. at The Little TheatreWell worth seeing