Maybe God is Ill

Italian filmmaker Franco Brogi Taviani adapts Walter Veltroni's book of the same name in this documentary depicting the poverty and violence that has damaged much of sub-Saharan Africa, with scenes shot in Angola, Cameroon, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda. The continent is a place of jarring contradictions—modern cities with skylines that would rival any American metropolis, surrounded by vast stretches of astonishing poverty where people scavenge for meals from monstrous garbage dumps. Child welfare issues dominate, with disturbing sequences that include a visit to a facility for abused boys and girls and an afternoon with street children who hustle for money by doing menial work. Strangely, everyone interviewed in the film—including medical professionals, aid workers, African filmmakers, and military officers—seems curiously resigned to the problematic social environment. So, while the situation is tragic (everyone agrees on that), sadly no one appears to harbor any hopes that the problems can be effectively addressed (Taviani doesn't talk to any of the government leaders who are, ultimately, responsible for the lack of basic care that keeps vast numbers in states of perpetual impoverishment and illness). A powerful look at the woes that continue to plague Africa, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)