Binta and the Great Idea

This is a short film that has won many awards. The film-makers definitely do not want to hide this fact - the names of awards keep zooming in your face for more than 1.5 minutes; and in you in your position can't help feeling irritated.

The documentary starts and maintains throughout great picturization of African nature and people. And it portrays the strengths of education and the issue of girls' education very interestingly - through Binta's narration of her school experiences and the story of her cousin Soda who is deprived of the same. A group of kids enact Soda's story and by the end of the skit the whole crowd pressurises Soda's father to send her to school. Meanwhile, Binta's father is enamoured by an idea which he takes to the Lt. Governor, who refers him to his senior, the Civil Governor, who again refers to his senior, the Governor himself - for the idea is so great! And what is the idea? To adopt a tubab (European descent) child. Why? According to Binta's father's knowledge of the First World, the latter has set an example of how the desire to acquire wealth has led to the mentality of extracting the maximum from nature and the tendency to take to destruction. To prevent this among African children, he wants to bring a tubab child who will grow up in the humble environment of Africa and acquire the knowledge to be happy. "This way when he grows up to be a man, he contribute to humanity, which is of concern to us all".

I now understand why this film got so many awards. Just one glitch - while there was so much focus on girls' education in the film, why is it so easily assumed that the tubab child would be a 'he', not 'he/she' or better still a 'she'?
Do watch the film.