Stories about Film from March, 2009
Water: One Take International Video Contest
“Is access to clean, safe water for drinking a basic human right? Why? or Why not?”. That is the question One Take is asking for you to answer in your own language, recording it on a video no more than 2 minutes long, uploading it on their site and on DotSub and having it subtitled in at least 1 other language. Just this month, world leaders met in Istambul, Turkey at the World Water Forum to have this discussion, and although they aren't sure what the result will be, it is our chance to show what we believe about this issue, and make our voices heard.
Brazil: Beyond cyberspace – when blogs move offline
Books are becoming e-books and blogs and websites have appeared as books and other types of media. In this state of flux, it looks like the paper book has the power to beat virtual writing rather than the other way round. In Brazil, there is more than just a fashion of launching e-books to attract readers and writers but also an opposite stream in which blogs have reached the offline shelves as well as the movie screens.
Palestine: Remember The War
Young Gazan blogger Lina AlSharif has made two videos to mark three months since the Israeli attacks on Gaza began.
China: Filming Confucius
Joel Martinsen from Danwei puts together discussions on the filming of Confucius. Apart from the news that Chow Yun Fat will be starring the film, the transformation of “Confucius” as a new cultural icon by commercial force is a main concern.
Czechoslovakia: Tiresome narratives of Prague '68
Dr. Sean's Diary reviews the second episode of BBC 2's series The Lost World of Communism, dealing with communist Czechoslovakia, and finds it rather basic and tiresome.
Morocco: Casanegra
From Morocco, Cinema and Movies reviews Casanegra, a Moroccan-Norwegian production in this post.
Tunisia: Gaza's Closed Zone
Tunisian blogger Sami ben Gharbia [Ar] reviews Israeli-made Closed Zone, a 90 second new animated film on the closure of Gaza.
Bolivia: Documentary About Emigrants
Miguel Esquirol of El Forastero [es] reviews the new documentary “One More Day” about Bolivian emigrants who have left their country in search for greener pastures.
Colombia: Documenting the trucker's life on the road
What is life like when you are constantly on the road? Blogger Francisco Cárdenas, best known for his blog Cine al Oído, has set out to experience that and share it with us online on 8ruedas. He will climb aboard Juan Camilo's truck with a photographer friend to explore the Colombian roads and find out the secrets, stories and adventures truck driver's hold to share online in real time through streaming video, twitter updates and pictures uploads.
Lebanon: “Help” censored
“HELP!” is a new Lebanese film addressing sex, prostitution, drugs and homelessness. Mazen posts about the the Censorship Department in the General Security withdrqwing its permission for the planned screening of the movie during February 2009.
Hungary: Subtitling vs Dubbing
Csíkszereda Musings is campaigning against Hungarian TV dubbing – and in favor of subtitling: “My problem is that saying that you are the world’s best dubbers is akin to saying that X is the world’s best instant coffee. It may be true, and you may even be proud of it,...
Cote d'Ivoire: Celebrated Filmmaker Dies
Pauline writes about the death of the Ivorian filmmaker, Desiré Ecaré.
Kuwait: Slumdog Millionaires Back in the Slums
Kuwaiti ZDistrict discusses the fate of the child actors in Slumdog Millionaire in this post. “The sad thing is the kids have gone back home after all the glitz and glamour, and the only thing waiting for them there is the slums,” he notes.
Africa: Two Africas In America
A Tanzanian film-maker in the United States, Josiah Kibira, is working on a new documentary titled “TWO AFRICAS IN AMERICA”…One African, One American, which will examine the relationship between Africans and African Americans in the United States.
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Slumdogs
“To be part of a group of voluble Indians in the diaspora watching the Oscars while contributing to a live, running commentary the year Slumdog Millionaire won 8 Oscars was quite an experience”: From Jamaica, Annie Paul shares her thoughts on the movie, while Jumbie's Watch posts a perspective on...
Colombia: Monuments and Landmarks
A year ago we wrote about Vlog International, a network of Spanish speaking vloggers who send in videos on a certain topic, and then one of them puts them all together into a short collaborative video. This last one asked vloggers to show which monuments are an important part of their city, and the answers came from different parts of Colombia, Mexico, and the US.
Senegal: A new documentary: Democracy in Dakar
Ethan reviews a new documentary titled, Democracy In Dakar, “It’s not just a portrait of a country’s vibrant music scene – it’s the complicated story of how hiphop emerged as a political force in Senegal, and how that force has been both empowered and thwarted in recent elections.”
Syria: Documentary Film Festival
Donatella Della Ratta, an Italian researcher on media in the Arab world, has been attending Dox Box 2009, a creative documentary film festival in Damascus.
Poland: Protests against Jewish WWII partisan movie
Polandian reports on the negative reactions in Poland to a film portraying a group of Jewish partisans during World War II.
Iran:Questions for Founder Iran Inside Out
Pars Arts has published an interview with Shaghayegh Azimi, Founder of Willow Films and Iran Inside Out. Her project aims to open up opportunities for the hundreds of talented and passionate young filmmakers in Iran.
Israel: Film Illustrates Problem of Closed Gaza Borders
In the Israeli blogosphere you rarely get the feeling that everyone is listening and no one is talking, and that's the case today with the debut of a short film called “Closed Zone.” A 90-second animated film about the sealed Gaza border crossings, “Closed Zone” already has 31,600 hits and 200 text comments on YouTube, and counting.
