"Are You Ready For The Babies Movie?"
Click to viewSynopsis | The adventure of a lifetime begins...
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Thomas Balmès, from an original idea by producer Alain Chabat, Babies simultaneously follows four babies around the world - from birth to first steps. The children are, respectively, in order of on-screen introduction: 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.
Re-defining the nonfiction art form, Babies joyfully captures on film the earliest stages of the journey of humanity that are at once unique and universal to us all.
Babies. They keep humanity (and the Internet) going. But will you watch eighty minutes of them in a globetrotting documentary film that is already predicted to be a massive cultural event? Or at the very least, a massive marketing phenomenon?
The film stars four infants in Mongolia, Tokyo, Namibia, and San Francisco. According to USA Today, "Pregnant mothers were interviewed and selected for participation in the film before the gender of the unborn children was known - which is why there are three girls and just one boy."
Incidentally, Focus Features has already pre-empted any snark you may be tempted to unleash in advance of the Mother's Day release (awwww) of the film.That is an addition to a clever momblog outreach strategy and a full-service website.
Source
Meet the infants who star in the documentary 'Babies'
Here are the four unknowns who are about to become stars around the world when the documentary opens April 16.
Ponijao: The eighth of nine children lives near Opuwo, Namibia, and her family is part of the Himba tribe. Her days are mainly spent on the dirt-dry ground outdoors, being raised by a community of women and hanging out with other children. As Focus Features chief James Schamus puts it, "In the village, a breast is lunch for anyone who gets there first." Says filmmaker Thomas Balmes about the outgoing Ponijao, "I never saw her in a bad mood. She is always laughing or smiling." Save for the opening scene of the trailer, that is.
Bayarjargal: His family of herders lives in a large, well-furnished round tent in Mongolia near Bayanchandmani. One detail that intrigued filmmakers was that he had an older brother, Delgerjargal, who was 2 when he was born. It seems sibling rivalry is universal. Despite being picked on, "Bayar is very easy going," Balmes says. "What is fascinating is that Mongolian babies are very silent and shy. They aren't social because they don't see many people. But Bayar saw the crew and had people visit for such a long time that he is very social and sensitive to others. Even Degi became more social after the filming."
Mari: She and her parents live in a towering apartment building high above the bustle of Tokyo's teaming streets and neon-lit cityscape. Says Balmes: "She is a lonely kid without a brother or a sister. That puts a whole different pressure on her. You sense how much of a princess she is. The whole family does whatever they feel like she wants. She represents the more intellectual way of raising a child." She also throws a drama queen's dream of a tantrum that would rival any Hollywood diva.
Hattie: An independent sort with a mind of her own, she lives in a cozy home with her ecologically aware vegetarian parents in San Francisco. "Her parents consider her opinion as important as an adult's. They don't judge her." When Balmes returned with his camera in December to do an update on the babies, Hattie got to see herself on film. "At one point, she said, 'This is enough.' It was in the middle of the screening. We stopped it and waited until later to watch it again."
Check out some hilarious/endearing clips from the official site.
