MAMA AFRICA [ 1/2]

Running time: 89 minutes.Not rated. At the Quad andthe BAM Rose Cinemas. ———-

‘MAMA Africa” is so well-meaning and sincere that it pains me to pan it. But pan I must.

Set in modern Africa, it consists of three shorts – each by a different director – dealing with young people struggling to rebuild their troubled lives.

It’s a worthy idea, but the uninspired scripts, acting and direction never rise above the level of an after-school TV special.

Rapper-actress Queen Latifah introduces each short, which only serves to add to the TV ambiance.

“Mama Africa” almost comes alive in its third segment, Zulfah Otto-Sallies’ “Raya,” thanks to actress Rehane Abrahams’ performance as a young mother trying to put her criminal past behind her.

But it’s too little, too late.