SPOTLIGHT FILMS: Babies - from around the world - Aug. 31
By Boundary Sentinel
Directed by Thomas Balmes the visually stunning new movie, “Babies”, simultaneously follows four babies around the world – from first breath to first steps. From Mongolia to Namibia to San Francisco to Tokyo, “Babies” joyfully captures on film the earliest stages of the journey of humanity that are at once unique and universal to us all. The children are, respectively, in order of on-screen introduction: Ponijao, who lives with her family near Opuwo, Namibia; Bayarjargal, who resides with his family in Mongolia, near Bayanchandmani; Mari, who lives with her family in Tokyo, Japan; and Hattie, who resides with her family in the United States, in San Francisco. As the Los Angeles Times reviewer says: “In the joyous and buoyant new documentary “Babies,” the filmmakers keep the baby — and the bathwater — and everything else about infants that makes them so appealing that the rest of us keep making more of them. “Like the trailer that has been charming audiences for months, this is babyhood airbrushed to a high gloss. Squalls are few, colic doesn’t exist, neither does disease, diaper rash or diapers at all for that matter as director Thomas Balmès traces the first year in the lives of four infants from four corners of the world.” It would be helpful for audience members to approach this film with an open mind, particularly regarding the child rearing practices of other cultures.
On Tuesday, August 31 at 7:30 p.m., Spotlight Films will be presenting the film at the Gem Theatre.
