I just got back from a screening of this documentary that examines (sans narrative, thankfully) the first year of four babies, one from mongolia, one from tokyo, one from namibia, and one from san francisco, more accurately representing the world population than if it were four western babies.

though the film as it stands is worth watching and is an entertaining piece of cinema, it never quite reaches the moment it seems to want to build towards: the humanity of all people. it settles instead for being a cute, fluff piece for the audience to coo over with numerous "oohs" and "awwws."

Description : From learning how to set up the perfect light for infants to understanding posing techniques for adorable images, this guide to shooting children’s portraits is an indispensable resource for photographers. Thorough sections on dealing with infants and working with toddlers and preschoolers include month-by-month and year-by-year developmental guides that ensure comfort and cooperation to help create unique, personalized images. An overview of equipment and a discussion of the essential tools for a shoot pairs with advice on presenting portraits, working with difficult parents, and securing referrals to make this an all-in-one resource for portrait photographers.

A look at one year in the life of four babies from around the world, from Mongolia to Namibia to San Francisco to Tokyo.

A look at one year in the life of four babies from around the world, from Mongolia to Namibia to San Francisco to Tokyo.

For some species captive breeding is their only hope. There are estimated to be only thirty five amur leopards surviving in the wild. Around the world, zoos are attempting to breed them in the hope that one day they can return to their home territory in Russia. Martin visits the last place on earth where they live in the wild to find out what hope there is for them. For orphaned baby elephants in Kenya, the future looks brighter as Martin discovers when he visits an amazing elephant orphanage. We'll also discover the fate of an incredibly rare barbary lion, extinct in the wild, whose first breath could also have been her last.

Spain is reeling from an avalanche of allegations of baby theft and baby trafficking. Hundreds of thousands of babies are thought to have been traded from the end of the Civil War up to the 1990s. Exhumations of the supposed graves of babies and positive DNA tests are proof that baby theft has happened. Katya Adler reveals the impact of Spain's stolen baby scandal through the eyes of the children and parents who were separated at birth, and who are now desperate to find their relatives.