"Binta and the Great Idea"

    We watched a short film today in class.  The film is titled "Binta and the Great Idea" and was nominated for an academy award in 2007.  It is a story of a young African girl named Binta who is allowed to attend school and the story of Binta's cousin, Soda, who is not allowed by her father to attend school.  Binta develops an idea to try to persuade Soda's father to send Soda to school.

    We used this film to practice noticing and identifying when social injustices are present.  As the students watched they had silent conversations with their partners through note passing.  Their conversations were guided by the following questions:
     What seems fair?  What seems unfair?  What pressures are put on the characters and how do they respond?  What does the filmmaker want us to feel while watching this film and why?

    These questions led us to discuss the social issues of power, education, family, and gender.   We talked about the pressures each of the characters might have faced to try to understand their actions.  We reflected on our own lives and the privileges we have every day that we might take for granted like the ability to go to school every day and have our own meals. 

    This was a powerful film that evoked such deep conversations.  I hope you have an opportunity to watch and talk with your child about it!

"Binta and the Great Idea" Film