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That was an excellent one.

I'll tell you why so serious

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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.

This short film was nominated for an Oscar for 2006--losing to the incredibly clever WEST BANK STORY. This film isn't a traditional Western-style narrative, as the story is constructed in an unusual way--in addition to the story, there are interludes where the kids in a school act out some of the scenes. For example, a young girl pins to go so school but her father, a very traditional man, says she cannot because it's not a girl's place to become educated--she's to take care of the men. However, at times, this exact same struggle is being acted out by students of the local school where she would like to attend. This was odd and a tad confusing, but was also unique and interesting.In fact, the theme of this short film is schooling along with the notion that we are all the same and need to look out for each other. Nice sentiments, though occasionally done in a somewhat heavy-handed manner. Still, this was not a serious problem. In fact, the story itself isn't the best or most important part of the story. I really think it was just nice to have a glimpse of a totally foreign culture and gain insight into their spirits.A nice film that is well worth seeing, but probably should not have won the Oscar.This and many more are included on the DVD "A Collection of 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films" and is well worth buying because it is jam-packed full of 13 wonderful shorts.

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.