Binta and the Great Idea
Encyclopedia
Binta and the Great Idea is a 2004 Spanish-Senegalese co-production short film by writer-director Javier Fesser
Javier Fesser
Javier Fesser is a Spanish film director and publicist.Fesser earned his degree in Communication studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid...

. The film stars Zeynabou Diallo as Binta, Agnile Sambou as Binta's Father, and Aminata Sane as Soda. The film duration is approximately 31 minutes, with dialogue in Diola and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

. The film is included in Oscar Nominated Short Films by Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor, and is a holding of 2929 Entertainment, owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films....

 and Shorts International; the theatrical release of this collection was February 16, 2007.

This film was made in collaboration with UNICEF, to which 100% of the profits will be given.

Director

Binta and the great idea was Director Javier Fesser's first Academy Award nominated film. Fesser earned his Mass Media Communication degree from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. In 1986 he founded the production company Linea Films. Fesser was one of the founders of the online film festival: "NOTODOFILMFEST".

Fesser's credits include:
  • Candida, 2006 (screenwriter)
  • Binta and the Great Idea, 2004 (director/ screenwriter)
  • La Gran Aventura de Mortadelo y Filemon, 2003 (director/ screenwriter)
  • El Milagro de P Tinto, 1998 (director/ screenwriter)
  • Aquel Ritmillo 1995 (producer/writer/director)
  • El Secleto de la Tlompeta 1996 (producer/writer/director)

Awards

  • Academy Awards: 2007 - (Nominated) Oscar; Best Short Film, Live Action
  • George Lindsey/UNA Film Festival: 2007 - Best of Show, Best Professional Short Narrative
  • Indianapolis International Film Festival
    Indianapolis International Film Festival
    -Mission & General Information:Founded in 2004, the Indianapolis International Film Festival seeks to create a shared experience by championing films that entertain, challenge and expand perspectives in Indianapolis and beyond...

    : 2006 - Grand Jury Prize; Best Short Film
  • Alcalá de Henares
    Alcalá de Henares
    Alcalá de Henares , meaning Citadel on the river Henares, is a Spanish city, whose historical centre is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, and one of the first bishoprics founded in Spain...

     Short Film Festival: 2005 - City of Alcalá Award; Best Short Film
  • Chicago International Children's Film Festival
    Chicago International Children's Film Festival
    Founded in 1975, Facets Multi-Media, located at 1517 W. Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, 60614 Facets Multi-Media is the largest conservator dedicated to the exhibition, distribution & education of foreign, independent & classic cinema...

    : 2004 - Montgomery Prize; Best Film or Video by an Emerging Director

Plot

Binta is a young African girl who serves as the narrator. She talks about her father and his 'great idea'. Binta's father is a small-time, local fisherman in a peaceful village (near the town of Bignona
Bignona
Bignona is a town located in the Ziguinchor Region of Senegal. It briefly appears in the movie Binta and the Great Idea.-Notable people:*Landing Savané, politician*Ibrahima Sonko, footballer*Lamine Diarra, footballer*Séni Camara, sculptor...

) in Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

. His friend who recently visited Europe describes what fishing is like there. He tells him that the Europeans can catch thousands of fish with bigger boats equipped with sonar. The man, very impressed by this, encourages the father to approach the government and request a permit for a bigger boat. Binta's father also hears from his friend how once he attains wealth he must get a permit for a weapon so he can defend his wealth. The friend also shows off his watch which has an alarm set to ring every day at noon. "What happens at noon?" asks Binta's father. "Why, the alarm rings!" his friend replies.

Binta's father is shown making his way up through the ranks of government, sharing his great idea with various officials. The film switches back and forth between the story of Binta and her father and the struggle between Binta's cousin, Soda, and her father, a village elder. Soda desperately wants to go to school, but her father believes African girls should not be educated; they should learn to tend the home and then get married and tend to home and family.

The village school children put on a play to convince Soda's father to let her attend school. Here we experience the power of art and solidarity; in the end, the father is finally convinced, and Soda is allowed to get an education.

Finally, when Binta's father meets with the provincial leader, we find out what his great idea was: He wants do his part to make the world a better place by adopting a tubab (white child), "preferably weaned," in order to teach him/her qualities which Western industrialized society has largely lost, such as sharing, solidarity, the sustainable use of resources. This film is unusual in that it allows us a glimpse of Western culture as viewed from a third world perspective.

Various themes are touched upon in this delightful film: the power of art to bring about change (see both the play-within-the-film and the film itself), sustainability and equitable division of resources, and the true meaning of progress and humanity.

See also

  • Third world
    Third World
    The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...

  • Senegal
    Senegal
    Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

  • Girl
    Girl
    A girl is any female human from birth through childhood and adolescence to attainment of adulthood. The term may also be used to mean a young woman.-Etymology:...

  • Critical pedagogy
    Critical pedagogy
    Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education described by Henry Giroux as an "educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive...

  • Village
    Village
    A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

  • School
    School
    A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

  • Sexism
    Sexism
    Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...

  • Education
    Education
    Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

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