“Who doesn’t smile and coo at an adorable baby, and here there were so many wonderful scenes following the development of children. No language, it’s the universal mother-child bonding, grooming, bathing, feeding, interaction with animals, toys made or bought and sometimes-jealous siblings. Loved it. My absolute favorite scene was the American mother holding up a book titled NO HITTING as her child hit her.”
“A visually stunning film. Just enough dialogue, we are all the same and it’s the amenities that separate us. Excellent discussion.”
“Charming feel-good film about the human race. This was a reprieve from our real-life issues. On the minus side, no section explores political structure of a given culture. In Africa where are the men? The Q & A with Fortune offered a lot of explanation.”
“As one of the babies visited the zoo, I could not help but draw a parallel to my own visit to this human zoo of a film. It was a very pleasant outing indeed. Fortune, our guest had a story that sounds like it could make an interesting movie, he was most impressive.”
“I loved the music!”
Quite a change from the power politics of Washington DC to the universal appeal of a baby. (Ed note: The screening the previous week was Alex Gibney’s documentary CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY.”) We are born beautiful and innocent, and how fast that is lost.”
“Needs more editing. Would have made a sweet short film. Do we get paid for babysitting? Favorite segments: sibling rivalry, rolling the kid with the lint roller. Loved the animal scenes with babies and the 1st scene with two Namibian babies and rocks.”
“Fascinating concept. Not surprisingly, the least interesting was the yuppie baby from San Francisco. HOW TO BE THE PARENT YOU WANT TO BE (Ed note: a book on the shelf of the parents from San Francisco.) I doubt that the African mothers will be reading that.”
“Adorable!”
“Brings back many memories. The midnight feedings, the projectile vomiting, the endless diapers… And for one smile I’d do it all over again.”
“A nice audio visual experience. A class in child development, not worth getting to the theater early on a Saturday morning.”
“Loved the music.”
“A most interesting film showing the contrasts in rearing and teaching of babies in different cultures. Loved the interaction between the babies and their siblings and the various animals in their lives. What was so well depicted in the film was the fact that because of the love and nurturing given them, they all thrived even in the poorest circumstances.”
“Just goes to show that wealth causes isolation and unnecessary over-indulgences of unnecessary toys.”
“What a wonderful film, and a terrific discussion, why didn’t you let us know you were having a guest from Namibia and a psychologist?” (Director’s note: They were last minute additions to the program.”)