http://www.blacktree.tv The adventure of a lifetime begins Directed by award-winning filmmaker Thomas Balmès, from an original idea by producer Alain Chabat, Babies simultaneously follows four babies around the world from birth to first steps. The children are, respectively, in order of on-screen introduction: Ponijao, who lives with her family near Opuwo, Namibia; Bayarjargal, who resides with his family in Mongolia, near Bayanchandmani; Mari, who lives with her family in Tokyo, Japan; and Hattie, who resides with her family in the United States, in San Francisco. Re-defining the nonfiction art form, Babies joyfully captures on film the earliest stages of the journey of humanity that are at once unique and universal to us all. A Focus Features presentation of a Chez Wam/StudioCanal co-production with the participation of Canal +. Babies. Executive Producers, TBC Productions, Chez Wam. Original Idea, Alain Chabat. Adapted by Thomas Balmès. Edited by Craig McKay, A.C.E., Reynald Bertrand. Produced by Alain Chabat, Amandine Billot, Christine Rouxel. Music by Bruno Coulais. Directed by Thomas Balmès. A Focus Features Release. In 2005, director Thomas Balmès and producer Alain Chabat began collaborating on the documentary Babies, a project conceived by Chabat that would show the early stages of the lives of babies across four continents. The innovative concept of a "wildlife film with human babies" (as Chabat puts it) was one that Balmès particularly responded to. Balmès has been a documentary filmmaker since the early 1990s, and specializes in projects with an international angle: Bosnia Hotel (1996) was about Kenyan U.N. peacekeepers stationed in the former Yugoslav republic; Maharadjah Burger (1997) focused on Mad Cow Disease in India; The Gospel According to the Papuans (2000) and its sequel, Waiting For Jesus (2001) examined Christianity in the jungles of Papua New Guinea; and A Decent Factory (2005) centered on the culture clash story of a Western executive visiting a cell phone factory in China. Chabat, Balmès' fellow Frenchman, first established himself as a comedian and actor (he is the French voice of Shrek), but has more recently moved very successfully into writing, directing and producing. In 1994, he founded the production company Chez Wam, which has made such movies as the French box office smash Astèrix & Obèlix: Mission Clèopâtre (written, directed by and starring Chabat), the Charlotte Gainsbourg vehicle Prête-moi ta main (based on an original idea by Chabat, who gives a Cesar-nominated performance in the film), and the current French release Ensemble c'est trop, starring Nathalie Baye. Below, the two men talk about their long, globetrotting journey to bring Babies into the world. EARLY STAGES How, and how many years ago, was this project birthed, as it were? ALAIN CHABAT: I had this idea 11-12 years ago, about watching on a big screen babies growing - without any commentary, but with music. I felt it could be an emotional experience. We [at production company Chez Wam] met with a couple of directors to pitch them the project. Christine Rouxel, who is in charge of development at Chez Wam, met with Thomas. They had a good discussion, and Christine told me, "I think I've met someone great for the film. He laughed at our pitch." Because the pitch was, we want to do an wildlife film on human babies. Most people responded, "What?" We'd say, "Yes, and no commentary." People's responses were very dogmatic. But Thomas was the first and only who laughed and said, "I'd like to talk more about that." THOMAS BALMÈS: I had gotten the first phone call in 2005 from Christine. Then we started planning. Filming started at the beginning of 2006, and kept on for nearly two years. Then it was almost another two years of editing, though with some breaks. In committing to make this movie, what was the inspiration that drove you forward - was it personal, or professional? ALAIN: I dreamt of a movie theater audience that would applaud because a baby would stand on their own two feet. These tiny things are huge adventures for them - and we've all been through that, though of course most of us can't remember. I felt we could show the commonalities as well as the differences among these babies. THOMAS: From my perspective, this was an opportunity to do a nonfiction film of pure observation. Most of those films today are entirely scripted. Rather than a home-video style, this project was going to have a lot of time and a lot of means - quite unique. ALAIN: Thomas embraced the challenge, and the pleasure of it. http://www.blacktree.tv