Arquivo

The film resulted in some unique experiences in the life of famous Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. For the first time, he made a film outside Iran. For the first time, also, he used digital cameras and technology. The director also saw all of the vision he had of Africa changed. “I honestly had no knowledge about the African continent other than that received through the media, but I must add that this knowledge was entirely transformed by this experience”, says the film maker. It all began in April 2000 when Kiarostami traveled to Kampala (Uganda) on invitation of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a humanitarian association maintained by the UN. For ten days, he filmed the stories of hundreds of children and teenagers, all of them orphans, whose parents fell victim to Aids, a disease that has left 1.6 million orphans in the country. The invitation was to place on record the activities of Uweso (Uganda Women`s Effort to Save Orphans) an association of Uganda women who work to save hundreds and thousands of orphans of Aids in the country. The record made for a touching documentary, with laughter and tears, marked by disillusion and hope.