When it comes to religion, we know from the old times human beings were very keen on preaching their own religion as the greatest and when someone tried to intervene in this discussion, they were oppressed by the people in charge. But after watching Ken Beale’s ‘The Sereer: Desperately Trying to Please God‘ we can notice that even in the oldest Islamic cultures the religion topic is not a conflict between Gods, but is seen as harmony at the conceptual level, as one of the persons involved in the movie, Saliou Faye, would state. In this documentary, Beale manages to show the viewer the humane face of what the clash of the religions should look like all over the world.
In terms of cinematography this documentary is very well made, with clear shots and breathtaking scenes only a professional could do. Something else we really appreciated in ‘The Sereer’ is the original score, neat and adequate to the subject.
More than a cinematic value, this documentary has a deep educational value. In today’s world where religious hatred is everywhere and religion is the subject of wars, this kind of movie is the solution for the next generations. Some may accuse us of proselytism, but as we see it, this movie is not religious propaganda; it is an individual case of how people from a region where Islam is the only faith, react when they hear about Jesus Christ. Their reaction is one you won’t expect after watching the news on TV: they embrace this idea peacefully and are bonding with the missionaries like a family.
The movie is very well documented and the story of the Sereers is easily highlighted by Ken Beale. The reality of this topic is supported by the great amount of testimonies from the natives which, if you pay attention, are very profound. This feature is a great piece of Christian record because it is unstaged and everything looks natural, meaning there is nothing fake about it. This is what a great documentary needs, and director Ken Beale manages to give us his best in ‘The Sereer’.
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