*** (Three stars)
The tabloid-reading world may have scoffed when Madonna, playing humanitarian sloppy seconds to Angelina, adopted a child from Malawi. Those same people might also pooh-pooh her filmmaking effort, a chronicle of her time in the world’s second-poorest country (it was created with a companion website—iambecauseweare.com—for those who want to help improve conditions in that nation). But this information, presented in a balanced and moving way, is too valuable to ignore. Orphans account for 1 million of the country’s 12-million-person population, and many of them have HIV. An A-list cast of talking heads, including Bishop Desmond Tutu and superstar economist Jeffrey Sachs, frame director Nathan Rissman’s narrative of children, adults and communities who seem to find joy in life despite a future that appears alarmingly bleak.—Gabriella Gershenson, Eat Out editor
[This is a TONY staff review, written for the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. It is not considered an official review and should not be read as such. Please think of it as a casual impression from a movie-loving friend.]