In a Senegalese village along the Casamance River, young Binta watches as her father develops a bold idea to send to the United Nations — a satirical proposal about the supposed benefits of the “developed” world. Meanwhile, her cousin Soda fights for the right to attend school against her own father’s wishes.
Editorial Perspective
Javier Fesser’s Binta and the Great Idea is a warm, deeply humanist film that uses gentle satire to question the meaning of “progress.” Shot on location in Casamance with non-professional actors, it captures village life with an authenticity that studio productions rarely achieve. The parallel narratives — Binta’s father’s quixotic petition and Soda’s quietly fierce fight for education — intertwine to create something that feels both locally specific and universally resonant.
Where to Watch
Part of the UNICEF-supported anthology En el mundo a cada rato. Available through educational distributors and select streaming platforms.
Historical data reconstructed from archive.org snapshots of the Manhattan Short Film Festival website.
