I Am Because We Are is documentary exploring the effects of the AIDS epidemic on children in the African country of Malawi. The film is produced by Madonna who also narrates the piece. While the film ran in several festivals, its television debut is scheduled for World AIDS Day (December 1, 2008) on the Sundance Channel. A companion photo book with the same title is set for release in January 2009. In 2006, Madonna and Guy Ritchie adopted a son named David Banda from the same Malawi.

"There's nothing controversial about the adoption. There's just a lot of bureaucracy and administration because this adoption essentially was the beginning of adoption laws in Malawi. I'm sort of the template or role model, so to speak, for future adoptions, and hopefully after we get through this adoption it will be easier for other people to adopt. I'm happy to be the guinea pig."—Madonna, on her adoption and work children in MalawiGuardian: Acclaim for Madonna's Malawi Doc... (May 23, 2008)

"For all its noble intentions, "I Am Because We Are" is little more than a longform PSA about the horrors of life in AIDS-ridden Malawi, one that asks many questions without providing answers..."—VarietyVariety: I Am Because We Are Review (April 29, 2008)

"Together, he (Rissman) and Madonna have made a shocking and incredibly moving film that is much more than an extended Comic Relief appeal. If Madonna wants us to see her as more than the gyrating, gym-obsessed Queen of Pop, she has succeeded powerfully."—Times of LondonTimes Online: I Am Because We Are (May 22, 2008)