The Mountain Thief

Thief? Stealing on the mountain? May be there is a treasure up there, but the treasures in "The mountain thief" are not gold or gemstones, nor the mountain is high in the clouds.
"The mountain thief" reveals the story of a land where people's treasure is trash. The land on which people who inherit a space on dump, are considered lucky. The land where a 6 year-old child who fled the atrocities of war, feels safe and happy.
The film muddles our notion of security, happiness and hopes. It is acutely difficult to fathom the gravity of a situation where one's hope is to own a piece of dump site. It wouldn't even cross our mind that the things we throw away, could be fought over, to the extent that it would cost a life. But in Payatas, these are all possible.
Far from the battlefield where people live in cities, there lies a land of trash which shelters people deprived of fresh air. The inhabitants of this land, are scavengers, who make a living by recycling trash, sometimes finding a piece of metal or anything still of value equal to a portion of food.
"Gerry Balasta" takes us to this land and tells us a story. Before unveiling the true story of the scavengers of Payatas, he asks them to play a fictional story for us in front of the camera, simply because he's not a documentarist. He wants us to see the story he created, hinting at the importance of religion mingled with superstition in Philippines.
Had it not been for his story, one might have given up watching the harsh story of the real lives of the scavengers, and thus not have asked oneself many questions:
Was I aware of such lands spread along the globe? How much is trash worth? What do governments do for these scavengers? How is trash dealt with in my country?

Thinking on these questions, few things came to my mind. The first was a photo reportage by Majid Saeedi from Peshawar in Pakistan, telling the story of an Afghan boy who sought refuge in Pakistan to collect garbage and earn a living.
The second thing I thought of, was the importance of educating people why and how to recycle; and last but not least, what have environmentalists done in these countries?