Based on the novel by Walter Veltroni, Franco Taviani, brother of Paolo and Vittorio, rides the crest of the recent documentary renaissance in an attempt to comprehend some of the complex issues affecting contemporary Africa. Africa has seen over a decade of increasing social discord, civil war, health crises, and political upheaval, and Taviani’s latest travels to Mozambique, Angola, Senegal, Uganda, South Africa, and others for first-hand accounts of the impact of such issues. By juxtaposing work by traditional and modern storytellers, singers, and musicians with images culled from reality, the film simultaneously illuminates the continent’s gravest emergencies and the fundamentally vibrant life that coexist. In a location that could potentially be a window into our collective future, Taviani finds the hope that hovers near tragedy, and challenges the sad ideal that, “Everything is becoming global except consciences... especially the Western ones.”