http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed en laurenmichelle.glass@gmail.com Copyright 2012 2012-01-12T02:46:03+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/the_growth_of_online_media/ http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/the_growth_of_online_media/#When:02:46:03Z The technological era has evolved to allow access to information about anything to online consumers. I had recently done research for the effects of online media towards the public and how it is a beneficial way for individuals to gain knowledge on topics. Online advertisements provide the option for interactions through social media, quick transactions for products, promotional distributions, and improvement for brand identity through cross media. Ads are behaviorally targeted towards consumers that research certain topics online and consumers control how much they want to see in digital advertisement with the option to obtain further information about a product or service when they read about it.  In contrast, there are limitations for publication and media. Social networking websites play a huge role in the promotion of media and it is shocking how fast news can travel through Internet posts. It is now common for companies to advertise themselves through networks to distribute links and information on sources of advertisement in order to attract audiences to other websites and media platforms, such as magazines or television channels. Some of the most common networking websites are Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter, which all distribute video streams and provide links to online articles and outside sources that promote a company’s production. Michael Lynton, the boss of Sony Pictures Entertainment, states in an article that “networks produce a powerful viral marketing effect because friends use them to tell one another about things they have discovered” (“Profiting from Friendship”). This statement is relevant to how quickly information can travel from networking websites to other sources for any type of production - whether it is a film, program or advertisement - to can gain a bigger audience. Cross media and collaboration with corporations strengthen profits for merchandise and promotion for media sources. Web & Tech 2012-01-12T02:46:03+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/tis_the_season_socially_conscious_gift_ideas/ http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/tis_the_season_socially_conscious_gift_ideas/#When:19:59:35Z As someone who worked in retail stores for seven years, I’ve seen the ugly side of the holidays, and it can be summed up in two words: Black Friday.  It seems almost unbelievable that people have literally been trampled in a throng of shoppers desperate for a cheap TV.  So this year, instead of fighting off that tryptophan coma in order to stand in a freezing cold line at 3 am, why not give a unique, socially conscious gift?  We’ve put together some great options that will make your holiday season a whole lot merrier. Three Avocados Coffee Don’t worry, it’s not avocado flavored coffee.  Three Avocados is a non-profit organization that donates 100% of its net proceeds to providing clean water in Uganda.  You can give a $1, $5, or $10 donation through their website, or buy any style of their 100% Arabica bean coffee.  They even sell coffee packages already gift-wrapped!  Better yet - for a limited time, all of their orders ship for only $2.95. TOMS Shoes You might see them everywhere, but TOMS shoes are far from out of style.  For every pair of shoes you buy either online or at one of their retailers (including Billabong, Urban Outfitters, and even Whole Foods), they donate a pair to a child in need.  As of September 2010 - and keep in mind that was over a year ago - they had donated over one million pairs of shoes to children around the world.  TOMS has recently branched out into eyewear, committing to helping advance research to help the blind and visually impaired.  M.A.C. Viva Glam Cosmetics I’m of the thought that a lipstick is a lipstick, but for those fashionistas out there who gravitate towards elaborate cosmetics, higher-end retailer M.A.C. recently launched the M.A.C. AIDS Fund to coincide with their heavily celebrity-endorsed Viva Glam line.  The purchase of one lipstick or “lipglass”, as they call it, can help those affected by the disease in several ways.  One purchase = eight home-cooked meals, one month of public transport to doctors appointments, or even a birthday party for a child affected by AIDS.  Macy’s Heart of Haiti Gifts It’s hard to believe it’s almost been two years since Haiti’s devastating earthquake, but even harder to believe that the country is still rebuilding.  Macy’s has teamed with wonderful Haitian artists to sell handcrafted housewares and jewelry both online and in-store.  Gifts range from this amazingly intricate metal picture frame to these colorful serving plates made out of - believe it or not - recycled paper.  Any one of these pieces are sure to be a conversation starter at your holiday party - and make sure to work into the conversation the fact that half of your wholesale price went directly to the Haitian artists to help them rebuild! MatterL3C’s BirdProject Soap Made out of all-natural ingredients (no animal products here!), these black bird-shaped soaps eventually become an even better surprise - a handmade white ceramic bird, symbolic of the ongoing effort to clean up the Gulf Coast.  When you reveal the clean, smooth keepsake, it will forever be a reminder that 50% of your purchase went to restoring the Gulf and helping the animals affected by the spill. ——- And don’t forget that if you, like us, are prone to giving movies as gifts, you can always check out the Arts Engine Store, where we’re now selling our Media That Matters 11 DVD collection!  By purchasing any one of our Media That Matters collections or Big Mouth Films DVDs, you’re helping us produce, promote, and distribute many more socially-conscious films and festivals. Happy holidays! Food for Thought, Happenings 2011-11-22T19:59:35+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/report_from_leipzig/ http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/report_from_leipzig/#When:18:50:03Z The only downside to transatlantic travel to Europe to attend Germany’s DOK-Leipzig film festival is jetlag. But that factor was minor in contrast to the opportunity to watch many amazing documentaries and meet notable filmmakers and other doc industry players. Leipzig is a city easily reached by train from my favorite Western European city, Berlin. The festival—the oldest and second largest of its kind in Europe after IDFA—takes place every October for close to two weeks. Audiences greet films warmly; many of the screenings I attended were sold-out or played to nearly full houses. Two highlights for me were watching material from Germany and Eastern Europe that most likely won’t find its way to the U.S. In that sense, I felt privileged to be there. Second, the chance to meet and spend considerably time interacting with filmmakers from such countries as Latvia, Chile, Poland, and Irak was indeed priceless. Some of the films I saw include opening night doc Special Flight by the Swiss director Fernand Melgar, which dealt with a detention center for undocumented immigrants in notoriously neutral Switzerland. With incredible access to its characters, the film depicts the day-to-day activities of immigrants—some of whom had been in the country for over 20 years and had established families there—while they wait for their “voluntary,” or—more likely—forced (the euphemistic “special flight” of the film’s title) deportation. The film shows the face of Fortress Europe and attempts to shed light on the plight of the mostly African characters. At times, it comes off as simplistic, at best; and problematically voyeuristic, at worst. Both the Russian short Bielutin: in the Graden of Time: Ely & Nina Bielutin and the feature Life in Stills by Israeli filmmakers Tamar Tal and Barak Heymann have “eccentric” seniors as main characters, but the similarities end there: While the former loses its charm in its first few minutes (and do we really need a film—even a short—whose main message seems to be that indeed Russians like to drink a lot of vodka), the latter develops a portrait of Israeli grandmother Miriam Wasserstein that is nuanced and moving. In Kirkcaldy Man, Julian Schanitz goes in search of a vanished Scottish hero, former Dart world champion Jocky Wilson. The film is a melancholy meditation on life in a small blue-collar village in Scotland cloaked under the guise of a mystery. In the end, we care less about what happened to Wilson, and instead mourn a community with few options except for nostalgia. My favorite doc of the festival was called Argentinian Lesson. The film is an impressive documentation of the first year of Director Wojciech Staron moving his family from Poland to a small village in Argentina. Paterfamilias Staron serves as cameraman as well, and the results show on screen: long and intimate takes using natural light that reflect beautifully. Seen through the point-of-view of his eldest son as he attends school, makes new friends, learns a new language, and falls in love with his neighbor, the film tiptoes a porous line between fiction and non-fiction. In fact, the filmmaker allows as much: although not entirely scripted, he did admit certain set-ups. Did it bother me? Not really. I mentioned another salient point for me at Leipzig which was that I spent time with great, friendly filmmakers. Some of the more talented and generous included the Uruguayan Emiliano Mazza, fresh from having won Mexico City’s DOCS DF 100-Hour filmmaking challenge (with the lovely Avenida de Reinas, available to preview soon, I hope); the Finnish Cilla Werning, who is co-producing the U.S. production American Vagabond; and Germany’s Nils Boekamp, whose Good Night White Pride was selected for DOK-Leipzig’s Co-Production Meetings.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the fantastic work of DOK-Leipzig’s staff—in particular, Christine Hille and Brigid O’Shea—and volunteers in making my festival experience memorable.  2011-11-03T18:50:03+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/social_media_vs._print_media/ http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/social_media_vs._print_media/#When:16:03:58Z New generations of journalists are emerging. They may not have had any training in journalism. They are anyone with access to the Internet. That’s right you and I are all journalists. Using social media sites like those of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube is a part of every person’s repertoire. But social media sites are no longer only used to check up on exhibitionistic friends, or the site to watch crazy cat videos. Now, anyone with a Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube account can report on the events they witnessed. A simple 140-character “tweet” or 2-minute YouTube video clip can inform the people of events in countries all over the world. According to a Wall Street Journal article Sohaib Athar, an IT consultant, inadvertently offered up live coverage of the death of Osama Bin Laden via Twitter.  The general public would have never learned of the unfiltered version of the story if Athar had not been inconspicuously tweeting away at his annoyance of all the sudden noise in the wee hours of the night. “In terms of getting snippets from the ground of the action and opinions from actual people in the situation using social media is better,” Julia Dratel, University of Chicago student said. “They’re not filtered by media networks. They don’t have to report to any higher ups.” Looking back at the revolutions taking place in Egypt, the Western world had little idea of the political upheaval that was taking place.  If it weren’t for a protesters who recorded videos of police brutality during the protests, and uploaded it onto YouTube than Westerners may have never found out about the revolution. With social media there are no expectations for the person to be impartial “I had friends studying abroad in Cairo [this past semester],” Dratel said. “It was difficult to ignore a status updates like ‘I just saw a riot.’” Social media definitely enhanced the role of journalism because there is always people witness events and posting live tweets of the event. “It’s as if there’s reporters everywhere even though they’re not properly trained,” Craig Stone, Professor of Journalism at Baruch College said. Conversely, not all college students feel that social media sites are proper channels for getting any sources of news. “For ‘real news’ I would read the New York Times or Bloomberg News,” Ludovic Delmas, international student from Toulouse Business School in France said. Journalists do follow a code of ethics, and also have multiple resources to fact check their articles to ensure that what they’re putting out to the public is unaltered facts. “Social media sites should only be used for checking up with friends,” Delmas said. “Whenever they [Facebook users] post status updates it’s normally their opinions or views on a subject. What I am looking for in news is a more neutral and broader perspective upon the events.” Social media is a place for being to be social on the Internet. It is considered more of a conversation rather than a source for news media. People can share their thoughts through 140-character updates as well as link to articles and videos. “With social media there are no expectations for the person to be impartial,” Dratel said.  “You’re getting both the good and bad sides to any event.” Twitter is constructive to journalism immediately after an event occurs. However, the one tweet quickly leads to retweets that include people’s own opinions and jokes. Journalists take the information at hand and weed out the opinionated information and give validity through research. “The Journalists job is to recognize their own biases and work around it in a way that makes the news their putting out objective,” Stone said. “There is a balance between taking what people give you and then working with it to verify.” Food for Thought, Web & Tech 2011-10-03T16:03:58+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/asexual_the_movie_my_impressions/ http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/asexual_the_movie_my_impressions/#When:20:12:48Z Angela Tucker’s documentary (A)sexual follows the history of the Asexual. It provfiles David Jay, founder of AVEN, and video blogger Swank Ivy. Each activists explains different facets of the Asexual experience. The film is not without its flaws, but it is the first documentary to attempt to tell the story of the fledgling Asexual community. Sara Beth Brooks and Cathy Roberts also appaar the film. They touch and expand on the commentary provide by David Jay and Swank Ivy. Before the film came out, many people only knew that Dan Savage, an advice columnist from Seattle, would be in the film. Savage has found himself at odds with the Asexual community over a series of statements he has made in the past. The most recent offensive statement was Savage comparing Asexuals to pehdophile priests. The statement occurred when the columnist interviewed David Jay, the founder of AVEN, on Savage’s podcast. Savage did not make the most outrageous statements about Asexuality. Those were made by Tucker Carlson in a 2006 clip. Carlson asked Jay why he had not found a cure for cancer with all of his free time. Perhaps the one thing Angela did not mean to convey was the notion that Asexuals all live in big cities. To be fair, there were not many noted Asexuals living in small towns to choose from. Swankivy lives in Tampa, and Jay lives in San Francisco. Despite all of this, the film was enjoyable and full of light-hearted humor. The film maker treated the subjects with sympathy and used visual contrasts to effectively show the slightly different world that many Asexuals live in. My Impressions But while all of this is interesting, it may not tell you what I thought about the film. I had a chance to interview Angela Tucker over Skype. She was both excited and worried about her film project. The excitement came about because the film was almost finished. The worry came about because the film was out of money. The film was stalled in its final stages. Angela was not sure that she would be able to finish the film. I wanted to see (A)sexual before I conducted the interview, but I was not sure I’d get a chance to see it all. Such films often don’t come to small towns. When I heard it would come out in San Francisco, I was disappointed. I live in Central Pennsylvania and had no way of making it.  You would probably be surprised at how little money an Asexual News web site makes. I was excited when I heard about the New York screening of the film. I wanted to make plans to make the five-hour trip, but my car had different ideas. Nearly a week after I bought it one of the head gaskets blew. A blown head gasket, unsurprisingly, has not affected my financial situation in a positive way. At least I did get a review copy of the film. Even though I doubted Arts Engine would respond to my request, I did receive a review copy in the mail. I went to the public library in the town where I currently live to see if I could view it. The library computers did not have the ability to play the videos. I headed to the computer labs of Luzerne County Community College’s Shamokin annex.  I put the CD in one of the college’s computer’s, plugged my ear phones in and started to watch the movie. The animation used in the first couple of minutes made me wonder about film’s quality.  As I watched the documentary it became obvious that the animation was part visual contrasts Angela uses in the film. She did something no one before had done before her with (A)sexual. She showed a brief history of the Asexual community and introduced people to a relatively unknown orientation. Arts Engine, Film Picks, Food for Thought 2011-09-07T20:12:48+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/to_view_list_what_we_missed_at_silverdocs_2011/ http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/to_view_list_what_we_missed_at_silverdocs_2011/#When:22:41:35Z It’s closing in on a month since I went to SilverDocs and I’m already looking back with nostalgia; on friends made, engaging panels and the films, oh the films! The thing about SilverDocs and most film festivals is that there are too many choices of films to see, and unlike Michael Keaton in Multiplicity I haven’t mastered the art of self cloning so I wasn’t able to watch all of my top picks. Lucky for me a couple of the films I really wanted to see are opening in New York. Here’s my summer to view list: Missed at SilverDocs edition. BUCK “Cindy Meehl’s lyrical film BUCK profiles the real-life inspiration for the bestselling book and hit film THE HORSE WHISPERER, Buck Brannaman. Based on his own harrowing experiences while growing up, Buck’s remarkable rapport with animals helps fix “horses with people problems.” A sensitive, authentic and no-nonsense cowboy, Buck’s philosophy extends not just to horses, but to the potential to transform all our relationships with a little patience, empathy and dedicated hard work.” — AP Buck opens Friday, July 17 at the IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinema. BETTER THIS WORLD “Two boyhood friends from Midland, Texas – David McKay and Bradley Crowder – fall under the sway of a charismatic revolutionary ten years their senior. At the volatile 2008 Republican Convention the “Texas Two” cross a line that radically changes their lives. The result: eight homemade bombs, multiple domestic terrorism charges and a high stakes entrapment defense hinging on the actions of a controversial FBI informant. A dramatic story of idealism, loyalty, crime and betrayal, Better This World goes to the heart of the War on Terror and its impact on civil liberties and political dissent in post-9/11 America.” – betterthisworld.com Better this World will screen Tuesday, July 28 at 8 p.m. in the Stranger Than Fiction documentary film series. The event will also feature a feature a Q&A with directors Kelly Duane de la Vega and Katie Galloway. THE INTERRUPTERS “From the director of Hoop Dreams and the author of There Are No Children Here, THE INTERRUPTERS is a gripping portrait of modern-day heroes. In Chicago’s CeaseFire organization, reformed gang members protect their community from harm through a unique, dangerous and controversial method—by insinuating themselves personally into conflicts. Using lessons from their own complicated pasts, they gain access and credibility within stricken neighborhoods, forming personal bonds to break the deadly cycle of violence.” –ifccenter.com The Interrupters will open Friday, July 29 at the IFC Center. Directors Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz will be there in person opening weekend. As a special bonus Steve James will also present his eminent documentary Stevie on Tuesday, July 19, 8 p.m. in the Stranger Than Fiction documentary film series at the IFC Center. You can purchase tickets here. RENEE The film tells the story of Renee Richard’s battle to enter the 1977 US Open as the first transsexual tennis player. Simultaneously, it follows her today as she struggles to cope with a life of contradictions and personal conflict.  Through interviews with tennis legends, family, friends and experts from the transsexual field; a story of perseverance, breakthrough and hardship unfolds. –espnmediazone3.com Renée will screen during NewFest Saturday, July 23 (5:00 p.m.) and Monday, July 26 (5:30 p.m.). Both screenings will take place at Cinema Village theatre 1.   Film Picks 2011-07-15T22:41:35+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/blogs_we_love/ http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/blogs_we_love/#When:13:41:09Z Blogs have gotten a bad rap.  Many people hear the word and automatically think no more than “online diary.”  While these types of blogs are undoubtedly abundant, the form has also evolved.  More and more news websites have bloggers on staff; some even have the specific task of finding bloggers to commission.  Quite simply, these blogs report the news, just like the news outlets themselves.  The added bonus is getting to start a dialogue, for the blogger to use his or her own voice and opinions to invite readers to join in the discussion.  (Hey, that sounds like a certain genre of film we love around here…) So, as we further commit ourselves to bringing you fresh blogs of our own, we put together a list of great blogs to get you even more involved in making social change.      Here they are, in no particular order: Waging Nonviolence First off, take a second to notice the extensive links along the right hand column of the Waging Nonviolence blog.  Fellow blogs, human rights organizations, publications devoted to peace…this is more than just a “get as many hits as we can” blog.  Their own posts are also heavily categorized based on what topics you’d like to read up on.  The topics include everything from boycotts and civil disobedience, to corruption and land rights, to robots.  (An impressive 21 posts regarding robots, at that).  Waging Nonviolence calls themselves a “people-powered” news source, so they also welcome reader submissions.  Just send them a query letter for your “short and pithy” idea. The latest blog posts on Waging Nonviolence include Egypt’s “Friday of Persistence”, Israel’s attempts to block Palestine’s “flytilla”, and Fox News’ declining ratings. The Innocence Project With the recent outrage over Casey Anthony’s acquittal in the trial of her daughter Caylee’s death, it was hard for me to take a side.  We rely on our judicial system to decide issues like this, but when they go against the grain, we condemn them.  I saw an interesting opinion via Twitter - “Wouldn’t you rather have a judicial system that does this [this meaning set free someone presumed to be guilty] than one that convicts the innocent?”  Well of course my response was that if I was getting such a heavy decision placed on me, I would choose neither.  But the implications of this tweet made it seem like the writer thinks we don’t have the latter system. As The Innocence Project proves, that’s far from accurate.  Since the organization’s inception in 1992, over 250 people either in jail or, in 17 cases, on death row, have been exonerated of their charges via DNA evidence.  Some convicted clients spent half their lives incarcerated before being cleared.  The blog follows cases associated with the organization as well as those being represented elsewhere.  Profiles of each person exonerated includes details of the crime, the trial, and the eventual evidence that set them free. The Committee to Protect Journalists One of the most egregious recent offenses against journalists was the attack in Cairo of CBS correspondent Lara Logan.  Turns out Logan is also a board member of the Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization dedicated to protecting journalists’ right to report from anywhere in the world without fear of reprisal.  CPJ’s blog includes first-hand accounts from journalists who have received death threats, as well as others who have been imprisoned or even, like Logan, injured on the job.  Unfortunately, that’s not the extent of the persecution - CPJ also keeps a running count of journalist deaths.  Right now, the numbers stand at 22 killed in 2011 (including Arts Engine friend Tim Hetherington) and a total of 868 since 1992.  The blog offers visitors an opportunity to become a supporter, including donations both in your own name and in memorial of a specific person or journalist. Labor is Not a Commodity This blog is a mixed bag of opening your eyes to the injustices regarding labor, and potentially destroying your love for some of your favorite brands.  Take one of their latest posts, wrapped around a picture of an ooey gooey Hersheys bar.  Then they drop the bomb - that treat may have been manufactured by some of the estimated 200,000 children working on African cocoa farms.  But the blog also celebrates victories, no matter how small.  Another recent post covered the dismissal of one of nearly a dozen falsified extortion cases against the labor leaders in the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity. World Bridge Blog With our recent work on Pushing the Elephant, our eyes have been opened to the struggles of refugees not only in the Congo, but all around the world.  The World Bridge Blog, run by Refugees International, compiles firsthand refugee stories with facts about what’s really going on in various countries.  A recent post even adds poetry to the mix, with a moving four-verse account of a hard-fought escape and hope for the future. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee When your goal is to change injustices in the world, there’s no point in beating around the bush.  That’s why we like UUSC, a nonsecular organization, and their straightforward vision statement: “a world free from oppression and injustice, where all can realize their full human rights.”  Their areas of focus range from economics and environmental justice to the right to water. Another interesting thing is that their blog is listed on their website under the category “What you can do.”  This notion, that taking part in blogging by either writing one or simply reading one can be a way to take action, isn’t something that immediately comes to mind.  But it’s the truth - oftentimes a personalized, strongly passionate blog, written by an individual of his or her own accord, can stir something inside a reader more so than a highly publicized news story. — What are your favorite blogs?  Let us know in the comments! Arts Engine, Food for Thought, Happenings, Take Action, Web & Tech 2011-07-08T13:41:09+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/a_new_atmosphere/ http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/a_new_atmosphere/#When:16:21:30Z By: Daniel Collins I have just recently started interning at Arts Engine. It’s summer, the sun is out, and I am inside at a computer all day. Working full-time as a lifeguard every summer for the past five years allowed me to become tanorexic (like anorexia, but with the sun), making the sun the only thing I wish to have upon me during the summer. Following my office duties, I have two classes to attend which eliminates any chance of relaxing, being outside, and enjoying the summer which I can only witness while walking upon the sidewalks of Manhattan. The sun has become a distant friend and yet, I could not be any happier where I am. In the past couple weeks, the people at Arts Engine have been nothing short of friendly, motivating, and open. At the start of summer I knew I could never feed my tanorexic desires while being stuck inside all day. But being stuck inside provides me with the experience and knowledge I could not gain while working with any other internship. Learning HTML, improving my copy editing, and publishing my work is, well, awesome. Arts Engine has become the start of a great summer, maybe the best one yet. So if it comes to looking slightly pale but being able to interview film directors, watch independent films and documentaries, and attend screening and critiques, well forget the sun. All I need to be satisfied is the bright light of my computer screen this summer. Dan will be blogging about his intern experience throughout the summer - check back for more! Arts Engine, Food for Thought, Happenings 2011-06-21T16:21:30+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/films_offer_fresh_take_on_mexico/ http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/films_offer_fresh_take_on_mexico/#When:18:25:33Z After fantasizing during my teen years about visiting Mexico—an idealized country that originated several of my favorite TV shows growing up in South America—I visited for the first time in 2008.  After roughly a week in Mexico City, I didn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what this marvelous land encompasses. Years of watching “El Chavo del Ocho” and countless telenovelas, and reading a range of guidebooks could not prepare me to face the overwhelming scale of the D.F.  But Mexico is a lot more than its cosmopolitan metropolis. To get a sense of a bit more, I would have done well to watch two new documentaries, Circo by Aaron Schock, and El Velador by Natalia Almada. The former follows a family circus in which a clan rears future generations of acrobats and beast tamers amidst the larger background of a way of life that cannot sustain itself for much longer. In the latter, Almada adds camera and sound duties to her directorial ones, acting as a one-person crew to capture a community in which mass death is a daily occurrence. Punctuated simply by news broadcasts spilling out of roaming truck radios, Almada’s observational style is reminiscent of Frederick Wiseman’s, with long static takes that follow action beyond what is expected. Because of this, the film can feel monotonous; at the same time, during the filmmaker Q&A following her New Directors/New Series screening, Almada explained her aim to have the film be open-ended and not prescriptive. Schock’s film, using stunning cinematography that is simultaneously lush and earthy, is also mourning. In this case, it grieves for the imminent demise of a family tradition in order to allow that same family’s new generations to thrive. Circo is currently playing theaters nationwide. El Velador is scheduled for release later this year, and will also be broadcast on P.O.V. in 2012. Film Picks 2011-04-14T18:25:33+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/the_elephant_in_the_room/ http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/the_elephant_in_the_room/#When:20:30:42Z In a hushed panicked voice, I closed my eyes, and whispered quickly, “Please give them peace.  Let them understand each other.  Please give them peace.  Let them understand each other.  Please give them peace…”  At the U.N.‘s 55th Commission on the Status of Women, multilingual malice shot through the room.  I could not understand anything.  My head was spinning.  Rose was crying. The directors had stiff shoulders.  Women against woman.  One shouted in the microphone letting spit shower the metal piece.  On March 1st, 2011, the Permanent Mission of Hungary to the U. N. and U.N. Women in New York City co-hosted the screening of the documentary, Pushing The Elephant in honor of the occasion of the annual U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, followed by a Q. and A. with the directors, Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel, and the film’s protagonist, Rose Mapendo.  Mapendo, an Banyamulenge Tutsi human rights activist from DR Congo, sat under the watchful fiery eyes of fuming Congolese women spiteful of her self-proclaimed identity.  The rivalry spat fire and I sat in the middle…  I am just an intern.  This is what I saw, but there was so much I did not understand. Formerly Rwandan, the Banyamulenge Tutsi have been living in Congo for over a hundred years, and most consider themselves Congolese, yet many Congolese fail to see them as their own.  While the roots of violence in Congo are too complex to address here, identity issues are among those roots, and have led to discrimination, war, genocide, and death camps… Enemies.  Let’s just say, when the Q and A opened up between the Congolese women and Mapendo… things got heated. The Congolese women arrived at the screening expecting to see a woman they considered to be one of their own with a story they could relate to and were instead greeted with a documentary on the trials and deprivation of a woman on the other side of the battlefield.  The Banyamulenge have recently broken out in violent rebellion and have created horror stories as well.  Feeling vilified, these women waited through the hour-long screening marinating in anger before opening their mouths to speak. Verbal abuse flew through the air.  With tissues in hand, Mapendo tried to drive the conversation toward all Congolese women’s empowerment and away from her ethnicity, where her people were from, the length of her nose (often used to determine who is Tutsi)... or in American terms, ironically, “the color of [her] skin.” A woman retorted shouting, “You’re supposed to be a strong woman, why are you crying then? Stop crying!” Another asked, “Of all the stories you could tell, why did you choose hers?”  This seemed like a fair question to ask the filmmakers, but it was said in fury.  With the trials that non-Banyamulenge Congolese women have experienced from the rebellion, she meant, “Why did you tell hers, and not mine? Why not ours?”  The wall between Congolese women based on their ancestral background has gotten so tall, they can hardly see each other. A woman yelled at Mapendo, “Why don’t you speak a language we can understand?”  Being ignorant of the current dynamics of Congolese people, I thought she was only expressing the frustration of not being able to understand fully what was going on during the discussion.  What she was really saying with hostility, “Why don’t you speak our language?  Oh right, you can’t, because you’re not Congolese.  I’m leaving!” Mapendo snapped, “I can speak five languages, including all the ones you can understand!  Sit back down!”  Amazingly enough they did. Despite the event being associated with the United Nations, we had not considered hiring translators, obviously a mistake.  The only person who understood all the languages being spoken—French, English, and an array of Congolese languages, was Mapendo.  Luckily, a gracious woman, Morag Hill, volunteered to translate English and French. Mean while, Mapendo attempted to answer questions and translate from the Congolese languages at the same time, which were often insults.  It took us a while to get a hang of a system, translating after paragraphs of often, rants, or entire questions and then summarizing.  Some of the English speakers became frustrated as well.  Not being part of the rivalry, one reporter actually suggested more frequent translations deeming it, otherwise, a waste of time.  With the languages and incomprehensible words, characters, and sounds being pitched from one end of the room to the other over our heads, like a relentless game of monkey in the middle, the tension only grew.  I didn’t know what else I could do.  I began to pray under my breath requesting for our peace and understanding.  It felt as if a higher power was driving my wispy words, but assuming that any civility, which later occurred, was still surrounded by resentment, I thought it was nothing. It was not until after the event that it was explained to me what had happened.  It did not end in bitterness, but resolution. An eloquent French-speaking woman, a high-ranking diplomat from the DR Congo’s Mission to the U.N., requested Hill to translate after every sentence, instead of after she’d said her piece.  She patiently paused between phrases allowing her whole idea to come across to the French and English speakers smoothly. She first thanked “Mama Mapendo,” which is what Rose had become referred to throughout the afternoon. She appreciated her story and was thankful of her survival through the turmoil and her works as an activist, but she really wanted to take the mic to clear the air and explain the tension in the room.  This was for all to hear.  She said that the anger was caused by Mama Rose bringing up the Congolese-Banyamulenge topic, a delicate issue, and was not personal.  Even Mama Rose began laughing and nodding her head in acknowledgment of having incited the tension.  With this in mind we were able to discuss the real problem. Banyamulenge or not, the Congo is not a safe place to be a woman. This is what Mapendo wanted to discuss: not their differences, but their commonalities, and what they could do to make a difference. The event ended with smiling, laughter, embraces, exchanging of phone numbers, and even pictures taken between all the Congolese women, including Mama Mapendo.  She said it was one of the most important days of her life.  The March 1st, 2011 screening and Q and A of Pushing The Elephant was one of the rare occasions where Congolese women of different ancestral backgrounds participated in an open discussion and united.  This is the first step on the road to peace and reconciliation.  Rose Mapendo said, “One person alone cannot push an elephant, but many people together can…” - Audrey Chow, Arts Engine The national broadcast of Pushing The Elephant will air Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 10pm PBS: Independent Lens Check your local listings here: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/broadcast.html 2011-03-29T20:30:42+00:00