SUNDANCE 2006: the world according to...

I, along with most of the people that I know, grew up on Sesame Street. It was a big part of my childhood and my education. This year at Sundance, I found out how much the show is accomplishing all over the world…

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SESAME STREET is a look at what the company is doing to set up the show in other countries in order to educate and entertain future generation. What I found fascinating was that they work in close cooperation with production companies to make Sesame Street specifically for the cultures and social issues of these countries.

There are three countries that are highlighted in the film. SOUTH AFRICA, KOSOVO, and BANGLADESH. There are many specific issues that are relevant to these cultures that the show addresses. One of the most controversial is the implementation of the Muppet, Kami, in South Africa…

Kami has AIDS.
This was a controversial issue here in the US, but we see through this film the positive impact that it had in South Africa. I won’t get into the specifics of the struggles that the different teams go through, but it is amazing to see the determination and then the eventual results.

This movie is fun to watch because of the Muppets. It is that simple. I still feel like a little kid when I hear that theme song and I see that fictional street. It takes me back to a place when things seemed much more simple. Watching that atmosphere being created for children all over the world really got me. This film affected me. It is really well done.

Congratulations to the directors Linda Goldstein Knowlton and Linda Hawkins for telling such an inspirational and moving story. There is a lot of terrible things in the world today and it seems like that is all we see on television, the news paper and in documentaries. It is so refreshing to see an optimistic story of hope and joy.