Babies

I have been busy all week seeing films at the Hot Docs (documentary film festival. The films are free for seniors and students before 5:00 p.m. I have seen memorable films from Ireland, Finland and Israel (2). I love documentaries because they broaden my horizon and I learn so much. I learn about different life styles in different countries. It is an educational enjoyable experience.

I could have seen one more free film today but then my readers would not have any reviews. There is no point in writing about a film that you will never see.

Babies opened the festival and I knew it was going to be released. I couldn’t wait to see this most unusual film.

We meet newly born babies from four different countries, Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and the United States. In some cases we see the actual birth. What differences! In Africa the young woman had no medical assistance and the surroundings were very primitive (by our standards) The baby born in San Francisco had all the high tech of a modern hospital.

The film follows the first year in the lives of these children. The camera work was outstanding.

The African mother seemed to do nothing but feed her children. Her large breasts were certainly well used. At one point she was feeding two different children at the same time. It was humorous to see the American child feeding from a bottle. The African child was drinking from dirty water on the ground and eating dirt. Nobody seemed to care.

I was fascinated with the Mongolian child who was wrapped so tightly in a blanket and then the blanket was tied with ribbons.

In Mongolia and Africa the babies were growing up surrounded by animals. This led to some humorous scenes. One little boy was sitting in a basin of water. An animal came up from behind and started to drink the water. The children played freely with the animals. In one scene a chicken climbed up on the bed where the tightly bound baby was resting.

The food was also a fascinating topic which greatly varied from country to country. We witnessed a scene of several young boys from Namibia all eating from one large basin. They simply took the food in their hands. It was a gruel mixture.

At no time was there judgment of any of the mothers or cultural standards. The film merely portrayed the variety in birthing and rearing children in four different countries. It was obvious that the mothers loved their children. The American parents almost over indulged their child. They were constantly doing things with her and communicating with her. The African and Mongolian parents left the children on their own a great deal. The children bickered amongst themselves and there didn’t seem to be any interference. Children bit and pulled hair. They pushed and shoved. This obviously is a common trait that knows no geographic local.

The film then shows the children a year later. They all seemed happy and were growing up nicely. The director apparently had no goal of preaching or judging. He simply wanted to show the tender moments between children and parents. HE wanted to show that there are different ways of child rearing

Filming must have been an arduous task. The director traveled to four countries and filmed over from before birth until the children were a year old. I imagine it was difficult also for the parents having a camera so close for such a long time. The movie is outstanding.

Not a word was spoken and yet so much was shown.