Uganda, March 2000. At the request of the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development, Abbas Kiarostami and his assistant, Seifollah Samadian, arrive in Kampala. For ten days, their DV camera captures and caresses the faces of a thousand children, all orphans, whose parents have died of AIDS. It records tears and laughter, music and silence, life and death. It attests to Africa's sunny resilience to so much suffering and disease.
There is a sense here of an encroaching darkness humbly met, unburdened by one-note feelings such as fear or joy and simply experienced as a profound moment of enlightenment.
There are more shots of children smiling for the camera than typical documentary footage which hurts the overall impact of the film. It's makes a better travelogue than movie.
This movie is probably the worst documentary I have seen in my entire life. I had to really force myself to continue watching it. I was really interested in the topic and I am big into philanthropy and charity work and I expected a touching and inspiring movie, but I was more than disappointed. The director is
exploiting the topic to his own gain and not showing any of the issues at hand. The first half hour of the movie is basically showing a few kids dancing in the streets, fascinated by a camera, which they have probably never seen before. Also it shows a driver driving a car, incredibly fascinating - not! When they finally talk about the HIV/Aids issue, they say maybe 2 lines and then move one. The sound quality is horrible and translations are barely ever done and never there when you need them. And then the worst part, three guys talking for about 10 minutes in Arabic (?) with English subtitles on a black screen about the fact that it is incredibly dark - no kidding - it gets dark at night!!! And then another fascinating subject: raindrops on a driving car and windshield wipers at different settings. Wow if I wanted to see that I would not choose to watch a documentary supposedly about HIV in Uganda! Incredibly horrible movie! I feel sorry for the organization that gave their money to the director to sponsor a movie about their program to help Aids orphans, they did not get what they paid for! And I dont recommend anyone to watch this movie - you will not get what you pay for!!!For more reviews see: bluetouchreviews.webs.com
(***): Interesting documentary. I liked the film's vibrancy and music and how it also showcases real African lifestyles (you really don't see this too much in films).
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