Merrick here...

I debated whether or not this article belongs in Coaxial...as it actually pertains to forthcoming television airings and DVD releases. But, since it's screening at festivals...

Here's Dave with a look at a documentary called THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SESAME STREET. Sounds quite interesting...it's about the considerations & complexities of creating SESAME STREET for cultures and countries across the globe. You can find more information about this project (as well as a video preview) HERE.

Dave makes an interesting observation about trying to teach kids about peace, acceptance, and decency amidst so much unrest and upheaval. I wonder how something like SESAME STREET would be perceived by kids in lands ravaged by conflict or intolerance. Would the show be perceived as advancing naive and idealistic values? Or, would such qualities still be seen admirable goals? From what Dave says, sounds like the film didn't go deep enough into such territory...which I think could have been a fantastic exploration of how media can impact (or fail to impact?) human nature.

Here's Dave...

Not sure if "the world according to sesame street" (I haven't seen anything on the site recently about it) is on your radar or already off of it but I just saw a screening of the documentary, which caused some stir at sundance, and thought i'd share my thoughts.

overall, it's a well put together and very watchable doc about the process of creating sesame streets all over the world. the film stresses that it's not simply about taking our beloved characters, dubbing the voices into different languages, and exporting them to a world audience. it's about understanding the people of each different culture and figuring out the most effective way to teach children who are growing up in vastly different worlds than our own. which is why they've ended up with "strasse sesame", "palazzo sesame", etc., etc. instead of crude carbon copies of our cultural phenomenon – which I'm sure goes a long way to explain the international success of the show.

the majority of the film follows production of the show in Bangladesh and the various hurdles the filmmakers must overcome. it also touches on productions in Kosovo, Germany, South Africa and various other countries around the world. it also delves into some historical aspects of the show and some of the historical context in which they are currently being created. and therein lies the films problem – it's not quite sure what it wants to be and oftentimes feels like it has a bit of the ADD (probably from watching too many episodes of the show).

the most affecting aspect of the film for me was watching the creation of something so innately innocent and good against the backdrop of turmoil, hatred, political unrest, et al. for example, in Kosovo, the Albanians and the serbs, who virulently despise one another, decide to have different shows for the different ethnicities and can hardly sit in production meetings together. however, the content they are trying to create is deeply rooted in mutual respect and love for your neighbor. to me, that aspect is what the film should really be about.

no one is born "bad" – our children learn to hate because of us and sesame street is trying to change that behavior. it's too bad us "adults" cannot learn that lesson ourselves.

(the film is screening on pbs on the 24th of this month at 9 pm – check it out if you get a chance)

dave

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SESAME STREET premiers on PBS October 24, concurrent with the film's same day DVD release if I'm not mistaken.