‘Making Babies’ is the third year of the ‘Reproduction on Film’ series screened as part of the Generation to Reproduction programme of the Department of History & Philosophy of Science, funded by the Wellcome Trust. These films explore the changes in cinematic representation of pregnancy, childbirth and babies, from the 1940s to the present day. Each film is framed by an introduction and discussion led by experts.

Babies (Thomas Balmès, France, 2010, 79 mins)

Babies (Bébés), directed by Thomas Balmès (Waiting for Jesus), is a captivating documentary film chronicling the first year in the life of four babies from distant places around the world:  Namibia, Mongolia, Tokyo and San Francisco. The film focuses on the differences in the upbringing and parenting of the children, establishing contrasts between the urban and rural; the developed and developing world; the indoors and outdoors; the technological and natural; the social and solitary. These contrasts aim to question and evoke reflection on the western norms and fads of parenting (such as baby yoga). Shot from the babies’ eye-view and narrated with the babies’ bodily sounds, however, the film presents these potentially heavy themes in a manner that is both fresh and endearing.

The film derives its beauty from the long sequences shot of the Mongolian and Namibian babies set against vast enchanting landscapes of plains and mountains. The rural babies are free to explore and interact with the natural world whereas the urban babies are confined within sanitised apartment interiors. The Namibian babies splash in a river while the American baby is carefully carried in a faux plastic rock pool. The most remarkable shots are of the interaction between the Mongolian child with the animals on his parents’ farm; a cockerel stalks around him on his bed, a goat drinks his bath water while he bathes in the bucket and finally a herd of cows step over him as clambers on bucket.

The contrasting parent-child-surrounding relationships are surprisingly fascinating to observe. And, although not everyone will find the prospect of spending 75 minutes watching naked babies a thrilling one, the director brings new perspectives, contrasts and subject matter to the cinema. Also for its stunning cinematography, the film is well worth watching.

Love Letter (Lucia Yandoli, UK, 16 mins)

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? As Kerrie, Love Letter’s protagonist, reads Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 in her school English class, she reflects on her own experience of summertime and young love. Set against the backdrop of the excitement of the London Olympics, this short tells an alternative story of the isolation and anxiety of a teenage girl who discovers that she is pregnant that summer. Rejected by her mother, subjected to violence by the child’s father, Kerrie is left to decide between motherhood and abortion alone, often in a dingy bathroom. Without judgment, the film ends on an ambiguous note with Kerrie’s final decision left open. The film is an educational collaboration between the director (and Cambridge PhD candidate) Lucia Yandoli and a London school. The students composed the musical score that alternates with the Shakespearean sonnet and play their roles with conviction. A commendable short that is both touching and real.