The question for the cynic is why not? If you are an international celebrity and entertainer like Madonna, why not make a documentary film about your interest in helping a suffering African country after some tabloid controversy about your private adoption? Why not try to change a perhaps cemented image (remember the Girlie Show World Tour days?) with a show of compassion and caring while the camera spotlights a sick African infant dying in your arms? Why not use your celebrity influence to turn heads, and hopefully dollars, towards a million or so orphans? The answer is beautifully depicted in “I Am Because We Are”.
You become weary about the entertainer’s motives when the self-narrated film starts out with too many sentences beginning with “I”. Realizing after all she is not just the narrator but the writer and producer, but for once not the star, she does answer some questions posed by the tabloids that her fans (myself included ) may have been wondering about. Such as: “Why Malawi? - Why now?” But for those answers you will have to watch it yourself. This documentary is not about Madonna, and nor shall this review be.
The film spotlights the sub-Saharan country of Malawi - one of the poorest nations in the world with a population of about 12 million, where more than one-twelfth of its citizens are orphaned children who lost their parents to AIDS. In exploring the impact of such a large number of parentless children, heart-wrenching personal stories of loss are revealed, complete with names of victims; pictures and video of overflowing orphanages, hospitals and juvenile prisons that go on like an extended Save the Children ad. Your attention is starting to wane when applicable words of wisdom from well-known experts in their field are interjected. Nobel Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu says “You don’t have to be rich to be good, generous and compassionate,” and from President Bill Clinton: “What we have in common is as important as our interesting differences”.
I appreciated the inclusion of the tumultuous history of Malawi (independent from Britain since 1964 followed by a dictatorship) as an answer to the question – “How did they get this way?” The complex answer to “Why is it staying this way?” - comes in vignettes on extreme poverty, hunger, corruption, violence, lack of education, destructive spiritual rituals, superstition, genital mutilation and a general lack of hope. It would be interesting to watch this film and count just how many times the word desperate is used.
It feels like the filmmakers are ultimately hoping that the viewer will take a look in the mirror, asserting that all people “want to cling to what is familiar even though they know it is holding them back,” and that this cycle of behavior is embedded in citizens not just in Malawi, but around the world. To prove their point, we see visual global images of war, vicious religious ritual, drug use and more. With this premise, the film moves beyond pulling heartstrings and into pushing buttons. And, having one’s buttons pushed is what turns audiences on, provokes thought and action. Bingo-they did it!
So the film starts as a story about the AIDS / orphan epidemic in Malawi and ends as a story about world problems and world solutions. By looking at the globe through the lens of Malawi, the viewer realizes that the film’s overarching message of hope and determination is as contagious as AIDS. In seeing, caring about, and helping Malawi, we may just help ourselves. Only the creative genius of a person like Madonna could spin that so poignantly.
I recommend this film to healthcare providers not just because the cinematography alone is stunning, but for those that have a global and humanitarian interest, it does communicate about many of society’s most challenging issues. I recommend it to all others simply for its look in the mirror philosophy as that may be the proper remedy for any problem, not just in Malawi but in any country, city, home, or hospital room.
Reviewer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Boxes of Popcorn
Written, produced and narrated by: Madonna
Directed by: Nathan Rissman
Available: Entire film can be watched on Hulu and You Tube, also available on DVD
