Music makes the hard times easier to bear for the orphans profiled in British filmmaker Paul Taylor's moving HBO/Channel 4 co-production We Are Together. Most of the 25 residents at South Africa's Agape Child Care and Support Centre lost their parents to AIDS, including soft-spoken charmer Slindile Moya, who lives with the youngest of her eight siblings in Agape (Greek for “unconditional love”). Taylor—who began filming while volunteering at the school—spent three years with the children of the Agape choir, whose reputation for angelic singing leads to the chance to perform in England to raise funds for their cash-strapped orphanage. Viewers will follow the kids as they rehearse, record a CD, and travel thousands of miles away from KwaZulu-Natal. All the while, Taylor keeps Slindile at the center: as her 22-year-old sister Philisiwe notes, the 12-year-old—who was nine at the time of her mother's death—took the loss particularly hard. Though further difficulties lie ahead for these children, the film ends on an uplifting note (literally) as the Agape children do their school and country proud when given the opportunity to serve as musical ambassadors. Also featuring Alicia Keys and Paul Simon, We Are Together was an audience award-winner at the Tribeca and Edinburgh film festivals (where it beat out Ratatouille). DVD extras include a featurette on the premiere at Tribeca. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)
We Are Together
(2007) 86 min. In Zulu & English w/English subtitles. DVD: $19.98. Palm Pictures (avail. from most distributors). Closed captioned. Volume 23, Issue 6
We Are Together
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