Home > Documentary >

The Slum

The Slum (2014)

September. 19,2014

| Documentary

The Slum

The UN predicts that by 2050, one in three people will live in a slum. But what determines where you live and how does your environment shape your health, hopes and prospects? In a special season of coverage, Al Jazeera explores our relationships with the places we call home. The six-part documentary series The Slum introduces the residents of Tondo - the most densely populated and least developed part of Manila - as they strive for success against the odds.

Free Trial Channels
AD

Apple TV+

Free Trial

Watch on Apple TV+

With 7-Day Free Trial

Stream Now

The Slum

2014

Seasons & Episode

Seasons 1 : 2014

6 Episode

Episode 1 - Deliverance

September. 19,2014

As a birth attendant advocating for family planning, Remy is on the frontline of Tondo's battle with overcrowding.

Watch Similar on Apple TV+

Watch 7-day Free

Your Friends & Neighbors

The Buccaneers

Episode 2 - Risky Business

September. 26,2014

Fifty years from now, one in three people worldwide will live in slums like Tondo in the sprawling megacity of Manila- built without proper sanitation, lacking medical facilities, and packed to capacity. Ricky Fuertes makes his living sorting through rubbish- tonnes of it, every day. He earns $2.50 a day scavenging so he can feed his family of five. But he faces his biggest challenge when his slum is burnt to the ground. Nearby, Chito Barquin dives for his money. He normally makes a living working salvage jobs, but times are tough so he now dives in polluted waters for old tyres he can sell to feed his wife and children.

Episode 3 - Storm Rising

October. 03,2014

Sandwiched between a polluted harbor and a busy highway is the charcoal- making a community of Ulingan- in Manila, with a population of 40,000. Husband and wife team Judy and Babes Barines have operated a charcoal pit for the last nine years. They invested all their savings in charcoal-making but have to make some difficult decisions when their investment is wiped out by a tropical storm that hits the south of the country. A few kilometers east of the Barines' charcoal pits, corn seller and mother of nine, Bebe, is starting work. But she has not managed to escape the storm either. She has to repair her makeshift home under a bridge and work out how to make a living as her supply of corn dries up. Meanwhile, Pilipinas Got Talent superstar, Frankendal, is also feeling the effects of the typhoon. He has not heard from his mother and grandmother since the storm, so he heads to the region to look for them. As a former slum dweller, he knows just how precarious life can be.

Episode 4 - Vote for me

October. 10,2014

During election season in Manila, politicians are out fishing for votes, but the locals are not all convinced.

Episode 5 - For Love or Money

October. 17,2014

Staying fit and healthy is not easy in a slum, and many residents must perform a delicate balancing act to get by.

Episode 6 - Breaking Out

October. 24,2014

A dancer, a model and a fighter dream of overcoming their harsh realities to achieve wealth and success beyond the slum.