By Julian Cao
Buried Treasure and No Spade is a two-minute documentary film centering on 17-year-old student Blessings. In this video presentation, Blessings speaks to his peers about the issue of oil management in their country, Malawi. Blessings concludes his speech on the profound note that they, the youth, should be allowed to decide on what to do with the oil, as they are the country’s future.
Given the serious subject of the speech, the film benefits from eschewing cinematic frills, embellishments, and edits. The film focuses, instead, on the gritty rawness and candor of Blessings’s speech, and the rapt attention of his peers. Blessings’s passion for his country is palpable, and it is unquestionable that he is a leader whom his peers hold in high esteem.
The film could have been enriched by the inclusion of his peers’ thoughts on the speech, as it would have been helpful to assess where they stand and how effective the speech is in galvanizing them into constructive action.
Overall, the film provides meaningful insight into the state of affairs in Malawi and, perhaps more importantly, into the youth of Malawi and how they intend to take the initiative.
I would give this video 4/5.
Don’t Miss Buried Treasure and No Spade, now screening on Planet Classroom.
Julian Cao graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Film from California State University, Long Beach. Currently, Julian is the Marketing Director of Sylvan Learning Center of Huntington Beach, and an intern for CMRubinWorld, Shenandoah Film Collaborative, and Tsang and Associates.
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