Madonna's Malawi film finds hope amid despair

NEW YORK — Madonna's awakening to the crisis in Malawi — an impoverished African nation where one million children are orphaned by AIDS — had many consequences.

She adopted one of those orphans, her 3-year-old son David. She is building a school there.

And she has told Malawi's harrowing story in her documentary, "I Am Because We Are." With an audience thus far limited to isolated theater screenings, it will be screened for everyone with its TV premiere on Sundance Channel at 9 tonight. Today is World AIDS Day.

The feature-length film was written, produced and narrated by Madonna, and directed by Nathan Rissman. It consults experts including President Bill Clinton and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

But the film's real power is its images, which are often dismaying but, here and there, reflect hope and a remarkable will to survive.

"I had many goals," said Madonna. "I did get to a point where I thought, 'I'm being overambitious, I'm trying to say too much, I'll never accomplish it.' But I feel proud of the fact that I did get to make all my points."

Among her points: an insistence that any crisis comes with solutions, however hard-won and piecemeal.

The film offers its audience a menu of constructive responses.

"If all you can do is live life in your world in a way that shows you are responsible for the people around you, that's a course of action," said Madonna. "People can be of service in large ways and small."

The first wide exposure of "I Am Because We Are" may be coming at a propitious time. On the eve of a new presidential administration, Americans seem set on a more idealistic path, however alarmed they may be by economic threats.

"People really are going, 'Wow! I can no longer ignore what's going on around me.' There are changes in the air," she said.

"We're all going there [Malawi] together at the end of March," she said, referring to David, 8-year-old son Rocco and 12-year-old daughter Lourdes.

"I'm very involved in a lot of things that are going on there," she said, and as she makes return visits with her kids, she wants them to gather insights into the plight of the world's underprivileged. "And David's always going to understand where he came from, and what his life could have been like."