The World According to Sesame Street

The World According to Sesame Street
Promotional film poster
Directed byLinda Hawkins Costigan
Linda Goldstein-Knowlton
Written byEric Martin
Charlie Pearson
StarringTerrence Howard
Music byNathan Wang
Distributed byParticipant Productions
Release date
  • May 21, 2006 (2006-05-21) (Peñíscola Comedy Film Festival)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The World According to Sesame Street is a 2006 documentary film created by Participant Productions, looking at the cultural impact of the children's television series Sesame Street, and the complexities of creating international adaptations.[1] It focuses on the adaptations of Sesame Street in Bangladesh (Sisimpur), Kosovo (Rruga Sesam, in Albanian; and Ulica Sezam, in Serbian), and South Africa (Takalani Sesame). The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival in the documentary competition.

The film was released on DVD on October 24, 2006. It was also featured that month on the public television documentary series Independent Lens.

The documentary included a segment featuring the introduction of an HIV-positive character on the South African version of Sesame Street, noting the short-lived negative reaction of some members of the U.S. Congress to the character.[2]

  1. ^ Harris, Dana. "'Sesame' Impact Felt." Variety. November 22, 2004.
  2. ^ Guimarães, Fernando. Puppetry. p. 123.