Binta and the Great Idea (2004)

Very disappointing...

The Worst Film Ever

Just perfect...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The issue this film deals with is a young woman prevented to get an education. The treatment is overly didactic. It feels too much like "feel good" social propaganda. It does not help that non-professional actors are used. Acting is amateurish. Fortunately the camera work is professional. Curiously that adds to the general feeling that this is government propaganda. There are jabs at backwards social practices of rural provinces. Theater is used as a medium to educate the local communities of their backward ways and convince local folks to change.All of this is for a good cause. Yet, being propaganda, it is predicable and tiresome. I would have left the cinema if it were not for a subsequent short.

I honestly wasn't expecting too much out of this film. I watched it because I saw that it was made in Senegal, a wonderful country which I had the chance to visit 2 years ago. I simply wanted to relive my experiences and hoped I would see something that might remind me of my trip. I got so much more.OK, so the acting isn't THAT great, its obviously low budget, and there is really nothing too fancy here. But WOW, what a message! I found that it really captured what I got out of my trip to Africa: yes, Africa lacks much by the standards of Western Society. But there is a lot we can learn from them as well. I would gladly give up all of my modern comforts to go live in that much more simple society.The film also portrays the culture very well, and highlights the strategy of social progress via performance arts. This strategy is often used for advancement of human rights. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is going to West Africa.

At almost 30 minutes, this is the longest of the film "shorts" on the DVD, "Collection of 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films." This one didn't win but it tells a charming tale.There are actually two stories going on at once. One is of the members of a black African village to convince all the men to let their daughters go to school, to learn to read and write and to better themselves. It seems that the men still feel that they "own" the women and can treat them as possessions, to stay home and clean and cook.The other story is of a man who has the idea that he can adopt a homeless child, raise the child, give the child opportunities. If he is successful, and others follow his lead, together they can all improve the prospects of their people.

What a great treat to watch on Saturday upon waking from a night full of dreams! Thank you, Fesser, for your humanity and childlike warmth. Thank you for showing the so-called developing world in all its true glory, carefully hidden from the mass media, where we are only made to feel sorry for the poor people in Africa. And yes, there are terrible maladies, social and political in many African countries, but there are as well good places to live in a sustainable way, in opposition to our arrogant perception that takes for granted everyone wants to drive a car, and travel and see the world, and accumulate a fortune only to be ridden by fear and create even more unnecessary layers around ourselves as individuals and as societies.It strikes me this short was finished in 2004, before it became a trend for Hollywood stars and the like to adopt Senegal children. But I laughed out loud when I finally listened to the great idea, since it seems a total slap in the face of some do-good no-good well known names that have been the focus of a heated discussion here in London.Oscar for you! so you can go on spreading good vibes.