It's a documentary with a catchy title -- "Nickel City Smiler" -- about a proud Burmese refugee named Smiler and all the dreams and burdens he carries with him in his busy life on Buffalo's West Side.

The story of the Burmese in Buffalo is told through the sometimes anguished thoughts and words of Smiler Greely, and the 103-minute film is a gritty look at the plight of Burmese refugees here.

"Nickel City Smiler -- From the Jungle to the Streets" will be shown at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Market Arcade as part of the current 10-day Buffalo Niagara Film Festival.

Why should the plight of the Burmese be so important in Buffalo?

Partly because the Burmese and other refugees represent the only slice of growth in an otherwise hemorrhaging population.

"Ninety-eight percent of the individuals that moved into the city of Buffalo for the past two years were refugees," said Donna Pepero, who heads the Refugee School Impact Program in the Buffalo schools. "They're filling these empty houses on the West Side, all over Buffalo."

And the Burmese refugees now comprise some 1 percent of the city's population.

This is no sugar-coated version of the daily lives of refugees who escaped a climate of repression, rape and death in their homelands for an uncertain future in one of America's poorest cities, mostly on the West Side.

The viewer sees boarded-up buildings, empty lots, burned-out buildings, rampant graffiti, rocks thrown through neighborhood windows and the anguish of new Americans fighting unsuccessful battles with local agencies.

"We ask that you watch 'Nickel City Smiler' with an open mind, as we did while filming," co-directors Scott T. Murchie and Brett M. Williams said in a written statement. "Refugees are not looking for handouts. They're looking for a peaceful life, a chance to succeed and a smile."

The documentary was made by Chance Encounter Productions in Clarence, with Thomas Haywood as producer.

The film tells the story of Greely, a Burma native in his late 30s who spent 23 years in a refugee camp in Thailand, living there amid bamboo houses, thatched roofs, with no electricity and little water.

Greely, slight of build with bangs and a gap-toothed smile, clearly is a proud man, often wearing a tie and sport coat, with his shirt sleeves hanging out of his coat. He's also carrying the weight of a half-century of genocide committed by the Burmese government against his Karen people.

He talks with great pain about the Karen people, many of whom have seen their mothers raped and their fathers tied up while in Burma.

"When I think about my people, I feel sad," he says. "They don't have human rights. They live in refugee camps, like prisoners. Here in America, dogs are treated a lot better than refugees in camps in Burma. That's why I feel sorry or sad all the time."

Could he ever be happy?

"I don't think so."

Greely becomes almost the mayor or councilman without portfolio for the Karen people in Buffalo. He fixes their toilets, helps them deal with their landlords, translates for them when they visit an insurance agency. He becomes a Karen community cheerleader.

Later, at a Karen community celebration, Greely explains the bond: "We're here in Buffalo. Wherever we are, we must stick together like grains of rice, Karen people ... It's about loving each other and being united. We must not be complacent."

But the challenges are great for these newest Americans.

Greely cites the limitations of the people resettling here, often after being traumatized for years in refugee camps.

"These people come here. They know nothing. They can't read and write their own language. Then they are brought to a house where they don't know what to do ... They don't know how to turn on the heat ... They don't know what to put into the refrigerator. They have never seen a refrigerator."

The film, through Greely, also questions how well-prepared some of the resettlement agencies are for bringing these refugees to Buffalo. He cites the case of two families, with a total of 16 members, being resettled in the same apartment, even though the two families speak different languages.

The co-star here may be Greely's young son, Moe Joe, a bright, adorable preteen who learns all about his Grant-Hampshire-Arkansas streets neighborhood -- finding a knife on the ground, spotting a white drug-like substance in his yard and hearing friends talk about a shooting they've witnessed.

Family members talk about threats from street gangs, and the viewer sees the aftermath of a brick thrown through the family's front window.

"We are not here to fight with these street animals," Moe Joe says. "You see, animals are in the forest, but this is an amazing animal ... This is what I call a street animal."

So why have these families come here?

Despite the daily battles trying to survive here, Greely still manages to be positive as he looks to the next generation -- and the ones after that.

"You have to have hope, hope for your people. If you don't have hope, you give up easily. Hope is very important for me."

gwarner@buffnews.comnull