Back in 1993, about 700 million people in the Asian region were in disadvantaged situation because of illiteracy.

Through Mina, a woman living in a rural village in Asia, the important role of literacy in daily life is stressed. The sort of situations illiterate people face and their difficulties are depicted here in an attempt to encourage them to learn how to read and write. An animated cartoon story, produced by specialists of literacy and animation in 17 Asian/Pacific countries, this film's basic purpose is to promote literacy (particularly for women) in the Asian region.

Originally, Mina Smiles was issued on video cassette (VHS pal) in 1993. This new version, published on DVD in 2007, is a multilingual special edition with 37 language tracks.

on this subject: Asia-Pacific Literacy Database (accu.or.jp)