Metin lives with his widowed mother and younger brother in the Swedish social welfare housing estate Jordbro. He gets by; he and his gang flog counterfeit watches from China, and take on small jobs, such as setting fire to cars. Metin writes daily in a journal. When the dairy accidentally falls into the hands of a publisher, two worlds collide. The publisher smells the sweet scent of a literary sensation, enthusing that the text is poetry, written straight from the heart. He wants to turn the small time Turkish-Swedish gangster into a literary lion. Metin is less enthusiastic and sees the practical side of things – “if you publish that, half the city will end up in prison”. “A Hustler’s Diary” combines social realism with a laconic humour, and a consummate performance by lead Can Demirtas, who also worked on the script.