This beautifully photographed, charming documentary traces the fantastic journey of Africa¹s most popular shoes: the flip-flop. Easily bought, quickly discarded, for Westerners the flip-flop stands as a symbol of the summer holiday. But in its African homeland, it has a unique life cycle and their story reveals much about Africa¹s economy and culture.

The flip-flops' journey begins in the factories of Mombasa, where 20 million pairs a year are made. Cheap and colorful, they have become an integral part of Swahili dress and are everywhere: aboard dhows and donkeys, bearing loads and left waiting for their owners on mosque door steps.

Worn-out ones are taken to the cobblers who specialize in flip-flop maintenance. But some are too damaged to repair and are discarded. Every May, the monsoon rains wash rubbish into the ocean where the flip-flops' buoyancy allows them to host barnacles and crabs. Finally they come to rest further down the African coast. The colorful debris is prized by vilagers who ingeniously carve the flip-flops into toys and mobiles, fuelling a new cottage industry that provides precious income for many families. Newly transformed, the flip-flops are transported back to the shop-lined shores of Mombasa -- where their journey first began.

"Highly recommended for junior high through adult...creatively done...would benefit libraries with African studies and business collections." Marianne E. Muha, Butler Library, State University of New York College at Buffalo, for Educational Media Reviews Online

Nominated, Pere Lorenz Award and Distinguished Short Documentary Award at the IDA Film Festival, 2003
Newcomers Award, Jackson Hole Film Festival ,2003