DiluzjFilmAnnotation9

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The film seeks to present to the western world the idea that Africa does not need to be “developed” by outside aide from “1st world countries”. The film argues that Africans are developing their country in their own way. Following the story of a young African entrepreneur, Daniel Dembélé, the film shows how the spirit of independence when it comes to developing Africa lives strong in the African people. The documentary follows the life of this young man, and films him in a home movie style camera work, favoring real events over scientific data and graphs. The film has a strong emotional appeal as it follows the trials of Daniel’s journey into a new business. The film does a great job in sharing the feelings of Mr. Dembélé as he succeeds in his endeavors.======

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The film discusses the sustainability solution of solar panels as a solution to the energy crisis. Additionally, Daniel uses panels that are reused from the scrap thrown away by major solar panel producing companies, showing that their waste is not useless, and is evidence of wasteful practices. Most importantly, however, the film discusses the social sustainability problem of forcing development of a country through unnatural means. As the film discusses, by just giving the villagers a solar panel and leaving, they are not helping them develop as a village. Instead by leaving the technology obfuscated, they are leaving the villagers in the same predicament as they were before, except now they have a new vital component of their village that requires hired experts or support from other countries if they want to repair it. This method of just dropping off a technology in an “underdeveloped” nation without teaching the locals how it works is a very unsustainable practice of forging aide. The solution to this is shown with the grassroots, local start-up company that Daniel started with the help from Dr. Richard Komp. This company is local, so any maintenance that would have to be done could be done much easier. Additionally, Daniel takes the time to explain how the solar panels work, taking away the ‘magic’ and giving the villagers more than just a physical light in the night.======

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The part of this film that I enjoyed the most as a documentary was the style in which it was shot. The film did not bother following the style of the other sustainability films we have seen, which normally have shown horrific side effects as warning, followed by lead scientists giving testaments to how the data shows there is a problem, and then wrapping it all up with hypothetical solutions. This film instead chooses to follow the life of one of the individuals that is working on the solution, and showing from a very natural atmosphere, just how effective that solution is. By showing Daniel’s hard work pay off, the film removes any notion of Africa needing dependence on outside aid.======

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This film could have been much more convincing if there was more of a video follow up of the villages 3 months later. The statements that were made during the credits were very effective wrap-up and follow up facts, however if they were actually documented, the film would have been much more powerful in its emotional influence.======

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This film best addresses the western world, as it shows those of us who are more distanced from the developing world, just what is going on there, and just what kind of solutions are needed. Before watching this film I did not know the current state of things in Africa, and now I can stand on the side of letting African countries develop themselves through grassroots solutions fueled by education from the western world as a solution to the global imbalance in wealth, education, and quality of life.======