|
If you missed the first two POV films of this season, Jennifer Maytorena Taylor's New Muslim Cool and Olivier Meyrou's Beyond Hatred, we have some good news: both films are available online!
New Muslim Cool will be streaming until July 24, 2009.
Beyond Hatred will be streaming until July 16, 2009.
Check back throughout the summer to find out watching more POV films online.
Independent journalist Tom Roston checks in and writes about the world of documentaries in his column, Doc Soup.
Truth in absence. That's what I was thinking about while watching Beyond Hatred, POV's stirring doc about the murder of a gay man by skinheads in France, which airs this week (check your local listings). There's a very deliberate way this sad story is told. The fact that it's in French, with subtitles, enhances the almost cerebral way the filmmakers follow the impact on the family of the victim.
I was most moved by the long shot of an empty park at dusk, the light fading in the trees. It is foreboding at the same time that it is utterly mundane, as we hear the sister talk about finding out about her brother's death. As joggers run by, the shot of the park, where the crime occurred, goes on so long, it almost has an anti-cinematic quality. Eventually, the lights come on in the park and the sister breathes heavily. The camera doesn't move; it feels like one of those Warhol real-time movies. (Read more in the filmmaker interview, where Olivier Meyrou explains why he held that single shot for eight minutes.)
Read more after the jump...
Just a heads up that POV director Jennifer Maytorena Taylor will be joined by New Muslim Cool star, Hamza Pérez, on Monday, June 29, for a live chat at the fabulous Firedog Lake Book Salon with La Figa.
They'll be online for 90 minutes of question and answer time, starting at 8pm East Coast, 5pm West Coast. Please bring your thoughts, comments, questions, criticisms, praises, what-have-you — and they'll look forward to talking to you!
The second film of the 2009 season is entirely in French (with English subtitles), with a slow and meditative pace — and is altogether extraordinary. Beyond Hatred, by Olivier Meyrou, begins two years after the murder of François Chenu. Three skinheads had been roaming a park in Rheims, France, looking to "do an Arab," when they settled for François, a 29-year-old gay man, instead. François fought back fiercely, but he was beaten unconscious and thrown into a river, where he drowned.
Mostly, Beyond Hatred is the story of François's parents and siblings, and their struggle to understand what they cannot excuse and to rise above hatred and the desire for revenge. The Chenu family fight not only to save themselves from bitterness, but also to uphold the principles of tolerance for which François lived and died. As we watch François's parents struggle to mourn their son, to comprehend the logic of the killers and to truly rise "beyond hatred," our admiration for them grows. The film — gradual, subtle and moving — allows us to feel the family's experience and travel alongside them in their search for justice and understanding.
Find out more about the film and watch filmmaker Olivier Meyrou talk about the Chenu family and his cinematic choices in POV's extended filmmaker interview:
Check out POV's website for Beyond Hatred to read more about Olivier's production process and read essays about the film from experts including Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew Shepard.
Freelance writer Amanda Hirsch, former editorial director of PBS Interactive, blogs about documentaries and the Web in her column, Outside the Frame.
If you meet Andy Carvin, it's almost certain that he'd tweet about it — and for a brief moment, the 11,000+ people who follow him on Twitter would know your name. He might also post photos of you on Flickr, write about you on his blog and interview you for Rocketboom — or just live-stream an interview with you from his phone. In short, Andy is someone who lives online, and when you enter his orbit, you live online, too.
As is fitting for a citizen of the Internet — someone Washingtonian recently named a "Tech Titan," alongside the likes of Steve Case and Ted Leonsis — Andy's bio is readily available on Wikipedia. I won't regurgitate that information here — I'll just say that this is a guy who "got" the Web right off the bat, and has been a leader and advocate for using the Internet in a socially responsible, democratic way since the early '90s. These days, Andy's on the payroll at NPR, which is how I met him, public media being the intimate world that it is. Read on for his perspectives on how filmmakers should be using the Web, especially so-called "social media," and why being friends with someone online doesn't necessarily mean you'd invite them to your bar mitzvah.
Amanda Hirsch: You're a "social media strategist" for NPR. Tell us what that means.
Andy Carvin: Well, let's start with the meaning of social media. Basically, social media encompasses the universe of digital tools that foster interaction, content sharing and knowledge creation. In the early days of the Web, it was largely a one-way medium — you'd read, watch or listen to content but couldn't easily create it or participate in a dialogue. Over time, the tools improved as the Internet became more ubiquitous. Now most websites have significant social media elements — blogs, wikis, user-generated content, etc. Some people refer to this as Web 2.0, but in many ways, it's just what the Web is today.
As social media strategist, my job is to develop ways for NPR to engage the public — and vice versa — as a way to expand and strengthen our journalism. Public radio has always had a strong community of listeners, but we didn't have the tools available for them to interact with us, and each other. Social media is changing all of that; "listeners" no longer have to be passive.
Read more after the jump...
Independent journalist Tom Roston checks in and writes about the world of documentaries in his column, Doc Soup.
What's in a name? I find myself approaching the new POV season the same way I used to love cracking the college course catalog, eating up the clever names teachers would give their courses, such as my comp-lit favorite, "Uncanny Tales."
What sounds good? Life. Support. Music., Hold me Tight, Let Me Go and Bronx Princess each have a particular ring that makes me want to see more. But the one that grabs me most is the first up, New Muslim Cool.
There's something so enticing about those three words together, complemented by the image of the film's main subject, Hamza Perez. The notion of a new form of Islam, coupled with something cool, is so seemingly incongruous and yet appealing, that I was hooked.
Read more after the jump....
Today is World Refugee Day, a time to think about the more than 42 million people around the world who have been uprooted and displaced from their homes. Activities are taking place around the world to bring attention to the plight of refugees.
Several POV films have put a personal face on refugees, including Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars (POV 2007), The Lost Boys of Sudan (POV 2004) and Rain in a Dry Land (POV 2007). Check out their websites and watch the films for a closer look at what individuals and families go through when they are displaced.
This season, the Academy Award-nominated The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) by Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath, which premieres on July 21, follows Thavi and his family, who escaped to America from Laos after the Vietnam War. Their difficulties in their new country are a reminder of the many challenges that confront refugees, and why it's important to remember them not just on June 20, but during the rest of the year.
Watch the trailer for The Betrayal:
Clear your calendars! Set your DVRs! POV's 2009 season kicks off on Tuesday, June 23rd with the premiere of Jennifer Maytorena Taylor's New Muslim Cool. The film, which follows the spiritual journey of Puerto Rican-American rapper Hamza Pérez, has received glowing reviews and is sure to start many fascinating conversations. Hamza pulled himself out of drug dealing and street life 12 years ago and became a Muslim. In the film, he moves to Pittsburgh to start a new religious community, gets married and spreads his message of faith to other young people through his music. But when the FBI raids his mosque, Hamza must confront the realities of the post-9/11 world, and himself.
Find out more about the film and watch filmmaker Jennifer Maytorena Taylor talk about her subject, Hamza Pérez, and about her film, in POV's extended filmmaker interview:
The film premiered in New York City last night with a screening at Lincoln Center, and on Saturday, June 20th, New York's Rooftop Films will be screening it on the roof of El Museo del Barrio. Check out Rooftop's interview with Jennifer.
We can't wait for you to see the film, and we're eager to hear what you think. Visit the POV website for New Muslim Cool!
The June 19 premiere of The Reckoning at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival was a great success. The film played to a packed house full of luminaries, including many of the people featured in the film like Nuremberg prosecutor Ben Ferencz, attorney Christine Chung and the deputy prosecutor for prosecutions of the ICC Fatou Bensouda. Read more about the film on the Miller-McCune website.
If you're in New York, head on over to Brooklyn to check out the BAMcinemaFEST. They've got some great documentaries lined up over the next two weeks, including Reporter by POV filmmaker Eric Daniel Metzgar (Life.Support.Music., POV 2009 and Chances of the World Changing, POV 2007). Eric follows New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof as he reports on the humanitarian crisis in the Congo.
BAMcinemaFest runs through July 2nd at BAM. Learn more about the festival on the BAM website.
Read more after the jump...
Do you know how the food you're eating got to your table? Food, Inc., a new film by Robert Kenner, aims to remove the veil of mystery that has shrouded our nation's food supply and illuminate exactly how corporations are putting profit ahead of our health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of farm workers and the environment.
The film features interviews with experts such as Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma as well as social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farm's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joe Salatin.
Food, Inc. opened in select theaters in New York and California this weekend, and will be coming soon to a theater near you.
July 13
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
San Diego, CA
Come to a sneak preview screening of The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), and follow a family's epic journey from war-torn Laos to New York, filmed over 23 years. Find out more here.
it was great job,at least you will giving an image net and clear about to t... More »
al mesiah | July 4, 2009
"Off and Running" will be featured in POV's 2010 season.... More »
Simon | June 29, 2009
