Watch how you use the word NAZI

The term Nazi is thrown around like a pink play thing these days; "Soup Nazi", "Obama-Nazi." As time passes we are forgetting the real meaning of that term. This documentary, Night and Fog, is a wide-eyed reminder of what Nazi really means. It is also a provocation that warns of the half sleeping monster that lies in wait among us all.

I have not been to the Holocaust Museum in DC. Much of this information was new to me. Shame be onto the Holocaust deniers.

WARNING: THIS DOCUMENTARY PULLS NO PUNCHES.

Great Resource for Obscure Films from Europe

Check out this great online resource for European Film called Europa Film Treasures. What a well of inspirational resources for our new media artists!

Slum Dog Millionnaire

Every now and then a movie comes along with a window into another world. In the US, we usually expect space ships and aliens to take us to a new place. This movie does it with a mix of Hollywood, Bollywood, and documentary approaches to show the rest of us life in modern India. When plane tickets to travel overseas are rising out of reach for most, a ticket to this movie is a bargain passport.

Our Daily Bread

Official Website for Our Daily Bread

Director Nikolaus Geyrhalter has made a film that is as cool and unblinking as the machine that is our industrial food production industry. Cute little chicks are seen moving on conveyor belts like so many soda bottles, pigs legs are lobbed off and intestines separated by bored, machine like workers. Devoid of dialogue the films moves from one scene to the next engrossing as it is gross. In some ways this film shows just how natural our abuse of the natural world is; actions taken without remorse, just one life form feeding on another. Whether we fit into the web of life is another question. Watch this for a window into a world that ends on all our plates.

This excerpt starts out slow but stick with it. You will be surprised at what emerges from this sterile lab-like room. More excerpts are available on You Tube.

The Cats of Mirikitani

A colleague of mine at Guilford College first told me about this artist and the documentary being made about Jimmy Mirikitani, an artist in his 80's living on the streets of New York. I had forgotten about Mr. Mirikitani and this project until today when I was doing research on the phrase "Make Art, Not War." This was Mirikitani's favorite saying- not sure if he gets credit for starting it. Never-the-less, the man's life story is a testament to the consequences of our forefathers' wrong headed thinking and fear ( not be to confused with our own.) Thankfully, Mirikitani, with the help of others, was finally able to rise above what the world dished out and has left us with the gifts of his spirit and art.

Here is a link to the trailer.

And here is a link to the website where you can purchase the DVD of this work.

Thank you Linda Hattendorf for this wonderful work.

Like a Time Capsule

Like capsules of lives, the still images of documentaries move across the top of this site, http://www.mediastorm.org/ . Pick one and you are likely to see yourself reflected; college lovers learning to be parents, a soldier realing from the after shock of war; middle aged adults caring for a father while their children watch. There is more, much more here. Listen to John Prine and blow up your TV, then turn onto the artists here, people like you and me brave enough to make art from the strings and stuffings of our collective soul.

Simple, Insightful, Inspiring

This is a touching, well made documentary video. It starts with a specific tragedy and ends in awe of a greater, unending tragedy; two son return to El Salvador to remember their recently passed father who had adopted an impoverished village there. Soon their focus, and their camera, turn to an unblinking look at bone grinding poverty experienced daily by members of this community.

Watch this to find one answer why undocumented immigration will not end until it becomes possible to live with dignity in all worlds, not just the first.

The video's design is beautiful; good music, smart editing, creative filming-all with a simple hand held camera. Anyone contemplating going overseas and wanting to film their experience for their own documentary should watch, and study, this video. Good job People not Profit. I hope you get your new line of T-Shirts out in time for my Christmas list.

6 Billion Others Project Puts Humanity in Our Face

source

Yann Arthus-Bertrand has created a profoundly impactful yet simple project, called 6 Billion Others, that challenges us to see "the other", our fellow human kind, in an apolitical, non-religious, non-terrorist, way. He simply asked people world-wide elegantly humane questions; What is Love? What did your parents teach you? Who are you? What is happiness? That's it. But watching the flash video for the first time filled me with awe, then looking at the close ups of those interviewed, listening to their voices, reading the translations of their statements, filled my face with a smile that I think challenged the small but growing deep-seated heartache brought on by the thought that living in a humane world is somehow slipping outside our reach. Thank you Liisa Ogburn for sending this site my way.

Enjoy :)

Young women leads way to "Tikkun olam" repair the world.

Little good news greets me as I unfold my paper every morning. Today, I opened the paper to discover a story on Maital Gutterman, a twenty-something who is working to make the world a better place. My spirit soared as I read about her adventures in Kenya, Bangkok, Toronto, and Africa. No simple-minded tourist, Maital has the heart of an artist. Rather than simply enjoy the pleasures of travel she engaged with the world and took the time to think about and finally share with others the issues she saw that divide us one from another. Her documentaries, "Mechina: A preparation" ,her first film, is on the lost innocense of six Isreali youths and "Three in a Million" is on AIDS in the South African township of Nekkies where one in four are HIV positive. A Duke graduate, she has lived with an Arab family, and is soon moving to LA. Truly, Maital is a light in the seemingly unending sea of darkness that sometimes blankets our morning papers and our world. Keep up the repair, Maital, and may we all pick up our own hammer!

"Dying to Get In" looks past stereotypes

If you are tired of the stereotypes being pushed on mainstream media of immigrants from Mexico; DWIs, Identify Thieves, and gangs, expand your perspective on the issue with this documentary by Elon University Alumni Brett Tolley. I have seen this documentary and it does justice to the struggles of those who are labeled illegal "aliens" for the want of a simple visa and whose labor is actively sought by US companies. Go to http://www.bretttolley.com/dying-to-get-in/