Documentary BABIES

Documentary BABIES: Filmmaker Thomas Balmès criss-crosses the globe to observe
and record the first two years in the lives of four infants and their families. Ponijao is the youngest of nine
children and lives in a village in Namibia. Bayarjargal's family lives in Mongolia. Hattie is a San Francisco
couple's first child, and Mari is the first child of a couple living in Tokyo.

Four separate babies

 Comparisons allow us to see the cross-cultural
differences and similarities
 The geography also shows how physical environment
influences the child's growth & interaction with the world
 Showing babies allows us to view how parental practices
& family dynamics vary in different cultures

Argument of child's development

   Children must be nurtured by their mothers in order to
be calmed down/ satisfied
 That babies are innocent
 Babies are unable to interact within their environment
without care/ protection
 Misrepresentation of youth within different cultures
 Possible strengths: attempts to show cultural differences
(however fails overall)

Distinguishes each child?

 The location/ environment had a huge impact on the
child's development
 Same children had limited resources while others were
exposed to much more in life
 Parenting styles played a huge role in the child's
development as well as their culture
 Not only does the environment impact a child but also the
child themselves
 Not all children have the same personality and mindset as
others
What do all the babies share?

 They all have similar stages of development
 Learned how to walk, communicate, etc.
 All babies are nurtured and loved
 All babies interact with family members and animals
 All babies had “toys” to play with

Why did she show us this film: all the babies looked happy in their own
space.

Film KONY:
Who is Kony/ what being the mission
  Joseph Kony was the leader of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army)
 He abducted over 30,000 children and forced them into becoming
soldiers
 Used women/girls as sex slaves
 The mission was to arrest him but failed because he could not be
found
 Raise awareness
What/ how was done?
  Involved politicians
  social media was used
 Obama sent troops to uganda
 celebrities got involved
  Protest
  phone calls and meetings with policy- makers

Critiques/ limitations?
 Not many people were aware of Kony so Jacob started to speak out
about these invisible children raise awareness about this violence
and abuse and make a difference
 Time period that they wanted everything done
 Needed the government approval to bring awareness
 Kony did not view children as innocent
 Disrupts social and family structures
 The father of the child dictated this whole film
 Who is allowed to go to Uganda and help out/ who's allowed to do
this work (high end management/ priorities)