Online: I Am Because We Are

A recent documentary gives audiences a new appreciation for Sally Struthers, for persisting in her African relief PSAs despite the regular mocking she endured. Unfortunately, she is not in it, but Madonna certainly is. Make no mistake, as producer, narrator, and “star,” it is indeed her film (director Nathan Rissman is often described in press accounts as her former gardener). In a true happenstance of providence, I Am Because We Are, an ego-trip travelogue of her visits to the country, was uploaded to youtube and hulu to be screened for free right as she returned for the court hearing on her controversial second adoption case. Of course, just because it is free, does not mean you have to watch it.

Within the opening seconds, the formerly influential pop-star puts the audience on high cliché alert, telling us: “People always ask me why I chose Malawi and I tell them, ‘I didn’t, it chose me.’” She then explains a Malawian-born activist called her out of the blue asking for help. She caps her prologue with the groaner: “I ended up finding out much more than I bargained for about Malawi, about myself, about humanity.”

By this point, most reasonable people will have disabled their internet connection. However, if you stay with IABWA, you will hear Bill Clinton join the spectacle of self-serving condescension, claiming: “people ask me ‘why do you love it so much there [in Africa]’ and I always say it’s because they have the highest percentage of people, I believe, anywhere on Earth, who wake up every day with a song in their heart. They sing through their pain and their need.” So do not feel bad about the Rwandan genocide that happened under Clinton’s watch, because they still have their music. Disgusting.

Many of the profiles of children in dire circumstances which follow are honestly moving on a basic human level. These are good kids, forced to grow up too quickly, and too often die at far too young an age. If the film simply told their stories, it would be a perfectly respectable exercise in documentary filmmaking. However, the film constantly shows us Madonna’s Lady Bountiful act, which is always accompanied by her nauseating false modesty, breathlessly telling us: “I know I haven’t solved all his problems . . . but, at least it’s a start.”

Then suddenly, things get weird, as Madonna’s Kabbalah colleagues swoop in to teach the Malawians their Spirituality for Kids (SFK) curriculum, not that its Kabbalah origins are identified in the film. It is this deceptive nature of IABWA that is most troubling. When speaking of young David Banda, whom she would eventually adopt, Madonna claims: “no one knew where his father was.” Unfortunately, this does not appear to be wholly accurate. Evidently, Yohane Banda did indeed visit his son at the orphanage, having committed him to their care in hopes they could save David’s fragile life, with the intention of eventually reclaiming him. It seems that won’t be happening anytime soon.

This is a deeply problematic film—a cynical act of self-aggrandizement that actually exploits those it purports to help. Wisely, IABWA was not picked up by an American distributor after its festival run, but it can currently be viewed for free online. For a truly inspiring documentary about the plight of African AIDS orphans, I recommend catching up with Louise Hogarts’s Angels in the Dust, a profile of Marion and Con Cloete, who run an orphanage in South African out of laudably compassionate motives and are infinitely more interesting than Madonna.

Angels in the Dust

Ninety-four minutes on AIDS in Africa might sound like a Bono-Jesse Helms-style guilt trip. Frankly, that is part of what Angels in the Dust is (trailer here), passing along buzz-killing information like: “By the year 2010, 100 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa will be infected with the disease and 40 million children will be orphaned.” Fortunately, Louise Hogart’s new documentary is more than a well-intentioned power-point presentation of factoids. It actually introduces the audience to some people making a difference.

Marion Cloete and her loyal husband Con opened Botshabelo (now called Boikarabelo), a home and school for AIDS orphans one hundred miles north of Johannesburg. If one were casting a Hollywood version of the Cloetes you might think Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. Marion Cloete, a self-described activist, was the prime mover behind their orphans’ village, enlisting her husband and their two daughters into her labor of love.

While nothing particularly out of the ordinary for the Cloetes is documented in Angels, the stories told by the children are absolutely harrowing by any standards. Many had suffered from rape and violent crime, in addition to contracting HIV/AIDS. For her part, Cloete is a remarkably comforting presence in their lives. She resembles everyone’s favorite elementary school teacher, but she is tough too.

Cloete can be blunt. Soon after ministering to a man suffering with AIDS, she charts his destructive wake, saying: “as his partners die, he moves on. He’s a serial killer.” The audience also sees she is not afraid to call out an abusive and neglectful mother. Refreshingly though, Cloete is sensitive enough to send the cameras away at certain moments, putting empathy above ego.

If there is anyone who truly incurs the wrath of Marion Cloethe, it is Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the ANC’s Minister of Health. She has been the flashpoint for criticism of the Mbeki administration’s AIDS policy, which has only recently, and begrudgingly, accepted the link between HIV and AIDS. Dr. Manto is also infamous for having more enthusiasm for her nutritional prescriptions over anti-retro viruses (AVR’s) as treatment for AIDS. Cloethe complains: “olive oil, beet-root and cabbage and garlic . . . if we had followed this regimen [their student] Virginia would have been dead by now.”

While not perfectly paced, Angels is a compelling film. Director Hogarth does not bring much in the way of a distinct visual style, opting instead for a simple reportorial approach. She does effectively capture the personalities of her subjects. The film is also notable for its soundtrack, which includes original songs by Simphiwe Dana, a South African vocalist who blends aspects of afro-pop, R&B, and nu-jazz. (At least the cool music in Angels can count as fun.)

Angels is definitely an advocacy film, but it is actually not overly politicized, instead maintaining a focus on the human drama of the Cloetes and their charges. It opens in New York this Friday at the City Cinema Village East.