Babies: a Documentary Film

‘Babies’ is a documentary film which chronicles the first year of life of four babies spanning the globe. Documentarian Thomas Balmès fans out to the grasslands of Namibia, the plains of Mongolia, the high rises of Tokyo and the busy streets of San Francisco in a study of culture, societal structure, geography and tradition, along with parental love and the impact all these elements have on child rearing. In the hunting and gathering society of Namibia and pastoral Mongolia, Balmès follows Ponijao and Bayar and in postindustrial Tokyo and San Francisco we are introduced to Mari and Hattie. While the 1:18 film has no real dialogue, viewers are able to get a distinct feel for each baby’s personality, the role they play within the family structure and perhaps most importantly, the universal undying love the parents display towards their offspring with the ultimate goal to raise happy and healthy children. Infant Ponijao is reared in a dusty village where families live in log huts fashioned together under what appears to be mud or clay roofs. There is no flooring, carpets or any form of barrier between bare bottoms and the dirt. Inhabitants sit on the ground, both inside and out, to go about daily chores and communal life. Women provide the primary care for infants and young children, with both groups either by their side or strapped to their backs while they work. Interestingly, it appears that men don’t play a big part in day-to-day child rearing as demonstrated in ‘Babies’. Older children serve as role models in family life, at times watching over the little ones and teaching them how to function within their society. In the opening scene of ‘Babies’, we see an older Ponijao seated beside a younger infant grinding rocks on a larger boulder. This process is repeated immediately afterwards in a flashback of the very pregnant mother of Ponijao making some sort of clay paste to rub on her belly. In this society, little clothing is worn and women’s bare