Hot Docs

Non-fiction filmmaking of the purest form, Babies asks one thing of the viewer: joyful observation. That we are watching four babies navigate their first year or so of life, from birth to first steps, makes it a riveting, universally appealing viewing experience. The children are Ponijao, who lives with her family near Opuwo, Namibia; Bayarjargal, who resides with his family in Mongolia, near Bayanchandmani; Mari, who lives with her family in Tokyo, Japan; and Hattie, who resides with her family in the United States, in San Francisco. Naturally the parents are often present, but mostly beyond or on the fringes of the frame. There are no interviews and no voice-over commentary. Yet, while a visual experience, comparisons and contrasts between distinct cultures emerge, even if the ultimate feeling is one of the extraordinary connectedness offered through the wonder of these nascent lives. - Sean Farnel

Hot Docs would like to thank Alliance Films for making the opening night screening of BABIES possible.

Media Coverage

Globe and Mail (Interview with Director), Globe and Mail (4-star review)
NOW Magazine (4-star review)