BARAKA

As a rookie to the blogging scene, I've been told to write about everything new and current. But, I've never really been one to follow the rules. There are just too many wonderful things that are old and still remain oh so wonderful. One being a documentary directed by Ron Fricke and released in 1993.

Despite being 17 years old, Baraka is still one of the most mesmerizing things I've ever seen. Baraka is an ancient Sufi world meaning blessing, the breath or the essence of life from which evolutionary process unfolds. A five person crew, a period of 14 months, 24 countries across 6 continents later the beautiful Baraka was born.

A dear friend introduced me to Baraka and I'm forever grateful. When I told him I had never even heard of it, he simply said, "we'll watch it tonight. It will change your life". So my two friends and I popped in the film, cranked the surround sound and found a comfy nook in the couch. I didn't know what to expect. Not one word was said throughout the entire one hour and 36 minute film. All three of us were locked in a trance and when it was all over, I was completely lost for words.

So a little bit about the background...The film is a collage of imagery from around the world that doesn't use words, because it really doesn't have to. It's almost like National Geographic on tape, but captures the more intimate details of life. It documents unexplained natural treasures, larger-than-life man made structures and the simplicity of animals in their habitat. It depicts the effects of overpopulation with fast motion street scenes in Tokyo traffic and assembly line productions. It shows the human devotion to religion and spirituality by whirling dervishes of Islam’s Sufi sect, Orthodox Jews bobbing at the Wailing Wall and Muslim pilgrims circling the Kabah in Mecca. And poverty is ultimately seen through the eyes of children in India. Essentially Baraka is about life and finding the beauty and the suffering in it all. It's realizing that there is so much more to the world we live in and coming to terms with the fact that your own problems seem so minor in the grand scheme of things. (Well at least that's what I think).

Visually enriching and tastefully paired with beautiful music including the chanting of Lisa Gerrard, makes it hard for anyone to hide their emotions at times. Depending on past travels and experiences, each scene will trigger something different. For me, I jumped back in time to Cambodia, walking through the Killing Fields. When I saw the footage of the millions of black and white photographs of people who were massacred during the Khmer Rouge, my heart sank deep down into my stomach. I will never forget the faces from those photographs I saw up close while walking through the concentration camp or the sight of the neatly stacked skulls at the Killing Fields. What I saw and learned from that horrific genocide is forever embedded in my head and heart. For you, it could trigger something completely different.

Here is the Baraka trailer. I would love to hear comments on what readers thought of the documentary. What did it trigger in you?

BABIES

They're tiny, they're irresistibly cute and they now star in a documentary film. Babies has been receiving great reviews so I decided to see it yesterday. The documentary follows four infants from birth and captures their first words, first steps and everything else leading up to their first birthdays. The neat thing about this documentary is that the four babies are all located in different parts of the world, thus making it fascinating to witness each one grow and be cared for in completely different cultures.

The stars of the film include baby Ponijao who enjoys a carefree lifestyle with other children and stray animals within her Himba tribe in Namibia. The chubby-cheeked Bayarjargal has no fear crawling among a herd of cattle and munching on a roll of toilet paper in his nomadic home in Mongolia. Opposed to these rural upbringings, two other babies are filmed in urban cities. Mari in Tokyo and Hattie, the All-American baby in San Francisco, were both featured being over protected and pampered. There are similarities in the way people care for their little ones, however there are many more differences that become apparent during the film. While Ponijao is allowed to stick her mini arm right into the mouth of a stray dog, Hattie's hippie parents furiously roll lint off her jammies. And while Mari's mom takes her to Japanese baby classes, a wild animal comes to drink out of the bin Bayarjargal is bathing in.

Director Thomas Balmès does an amazing job capturing the footage of the little tots by using a tripod rather than a shaky hand-held camera. This is no homemade video, although I should warn potential viewers that the film has no dialogue. Also be prepared that if you're looking for a car-chasing type flick or something with a thrilling plot line, this film is rated adorable and deals only with the four babies mentioned.