You know who are — you can't get enough word play. You do crossword puzzles on the train, play games of Scrabble in cafes or in the park, or on Scrabulous. Maybe you've read Marc Romano's Crossworld or Stephen Fatzis' Word Freaks, recent books on the worlds of competitive crossword puzzling, and Scrabble, respectively.
But whether you're a hardcore word player, or have only a passing interest, you probably love — or at least appreciate — anagrams: the beauty, the wit, the puzzling satisfaction of how it all fits together. In that case, here's a great little film for you: P.O.V.'s latest entry in the Online Short Film Festival, Ars Magna, by Cory Kelley. The seven-mintue gem, presented in glorious full-screen flash (just click the little black full-screen icon at the bottom of the player), is a little loving tribute to one man's obsession with his ars magna, anagrams.
Looking for more word play? Check out the word-lover's website mentioned in the film, Wordsmith.org. And if this little short merely whets your appetite for more word-play docs, take a look at Wordplay, by Patrick Creadon, a funny, affectionate ode to the New York Times Crossword Puzzle, or Eric Chaikin and Julian Petrillo's Word Wars, about the "tiles and tribulations" of competitive Scrabble. Both are zippy and fun. You can test your anagramming skills while watching, unscrambling the words as the characters on screen do. Do you have any other favorite books, sites or docs on the subject? Let us know — post a comment below!
Several months ago, Yance Ford recommended a series of short films about the Iraq War entitled War Torn for our online short film festival. After a little googling, I realized that the series is already available on the Web, at Channel Four's excellent Dispatches website. So I put the DVD aside, and moved on to the pile of films that still needed reviewing. Last week, the 5-year anniversary of the Iraq War reminded me of the series and Yance's praise for it, so I dug out the DVD, and cued it up on my computer.
The daughter of a British soldier sits in her living room.
War Torn: Stories of Separation is a collection of four shorts that tell the stories of mothers and wives whose sons and husbands have gone to fight in Iraq. Filmmaker David Modell artfully combines still photography and audio to create these incredibly moving shorts that detail the impact of the Iraq War on four British families in late 2006. The women talk about life at home, and read aloud the news of the soldiers from a distance, through the letters and text messages they sent home from the battlefield. None of the families are the same after the war enters their lives.
Irene McMillian, who was part of the team behind War Torn, described the biggest challenges the team faced in the making of the films on the Channel Four website.
What we found to be the greatest obstacle to reporting the correspondence was not the transitory nature of it, it was the fear of the imagined consequences for the soldiers if they indulged in candid expression of their thoughts and feelings.
Here everything goes on behind closed doors. Many of the parents I spoke to want the public to understand what life is like for them and those at war and were only too happy to share their letters, only to be shocked by the absolute refusal to cooperate by their children. This left many parents bewildered and unable to understand such a high level of hostility to the idea. Some parents were threatened with no more letters, or a considerable censoring of information. [link]
After watching these films and reading through the site, I found myself thinking about my own father's service in World War II and his unwillingness to talk about it much with my mother, myself and my sister. He was at war long before our family (and I) existed, and I wondered what he was like before the war — had it changed him, too? — and how my life might have been different if he had served in Vietnam instead, during my childhood. These intimate stories inspired me to reflect on my own family's experience with war in a way that a lot of the nightly news interviews I've seen with soldiers' families haven't. The combination of the women's voices, the use of still photography and the thoughtful pacing invites viewers to put themselves in these women's places and imagine what would happen if one of our own family members was sent to Iraq.
It's a tear-filled journey, but an important one, I think. Watch War Torn.*
* WARNING: These videos contain some strong language.
Inspired by the growing number of docs about food that have been coming out lately, P.O.V. staffer Jessica Lee recently took another look at an older film that inspired her.
Recent documentaries such as The Price of Sugar, King Corn, and Black Gold address how food is inextricably linked to politics and social justice. For those interested in watching an older film that takes a look at the business and politics of food, check out Ilha das Flores, a 13-minute 1989 documentary short by Brazilian filmmaker Jorge Furtado.
I had never heard of Ilha das Flores before I saw it as a student in a film course. I found the film affecting and provocative, and when I did some research about it, I learned that it was both critically acclaimed and very well known. The film won the Silver Bear award at the 1990 Berlin Film Festival, and in a show of populist acclaim, IMDB users voted it one of the top 50 documentaries of all time (as of January 28, 2008 it was ranked #11).
Last year, P.O.V. partnered with the WBGH Lab in Boston to support the great work they are doing there. The Lab assists young mediamakers in creating short films and encourages them to experiment with new ways of making and interacting with content. It's very cool, cutting-edge stuff. Every few months, the Lab announces an open call on their website offering filmmakers the opportunity to submit proposals for short films or media projects related to a specific theme. Selected applicants receive funding to complete their projects, input during the production process from professional media makers and a place to showcase their work.
Earlier this week, the Lab and the National Black Programming Consortium announced the five selected filmmakers who will receive funding and editorial support for their three-minute films, which explore issues of racism, expulsion of African Americans from communities, and reparations.
The works-in-progress will be up on their site through Sunday with the hope that site visitors will offer reactions and suggestions for improving the films. The shorts are pretty amazing for a first cut, very provocative and worth a look. My favorite featured some students from John Jay High School in my old neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn, talking about their tense relationship with the community. I probably walked by that high school over a hundred times during my five years in the Slope, and I have to admit I never knew anything about it, or the students that went there. It's so great to see these teenagers picking up cameras and telling their own stories, rather than letting others tell their stories for them.
Update: The WGBH Lab has announced a new Open Call for submissions today. It's called "Watch Over Me." Forty-four million Americans are caring for aging relatives and friends. Are you one of them? If so, tell them your story. (Monday, January 28)
We hosted our annual P.O.V. brunch on Sunday — a welcome relief from the hectic pace of screenings, parties and general mischief that seems to be the Sundance routine. First to arrive was Steven Sebring and Patti Smith — an artist who changed my life at a formative stage. Steven's film Patti Smith: Dream of Life is an elegiac composition that beautifully integrates Patti's life as a mother, rock musician, artist and poet, activist and ultimately, as she says, "as a worker." It's been a highlight to meet Patti and spend a few minutes with her. Some of the band — Lenny Kaye, Jay Dee Daugherty — arrived a little later. The band members have yet to see the film, so the premiere will be the first time. (More on that later.)
The Smith family — Jesse, Patti and Jackson — with filmmaker Steven Sebring
The brunch is a chance to catch up with P.O.V. friends and filmmakers whose work will or has been a part of P.O.V. in the past. P.O.V. alums in attendance included Thomas Allen Harris, Yvonne Welbon, Paul Stekler, Tasha Oldham and Alex Rivera. Alex's debut feature Sleep Dealer is creating a buzz at the festival.
It was a thrill to be able to announce that Traces of the Trade, Katrina Browne's wrenching examination of the legacy of the North's leadership in the slave trade, through her own family's complicity, will be part of P.O.V.'s 2008 lineup. Katrina brought her production team, including Elizabeth Delude-Dix and Jude Ray, and several members of the family including Tom DeWolf, who has written a new memoir based on his experience in the film, Inheriting the Trade (Beacon Press).
With so much video and multimedia on the web, how do you figure out what to watch? P.O.V. Blog's Media Guide is here to recommend some of our favorite online videos.
If you're looking to watch online journalism at its finest, a good place to get started is with the list of winners from the recent News and Documentary Emmy Awards, which recognized outstanding achievements in journalism for broadband.
Mediastorm's Kingsley's Crossing won the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary/Nonfiction Programming for Broadband. In a beautifully produced piece, Kingsley, a 23-year-old lifeguard from Cameroon, takes the viewer through the process of leaving Africa for a chance at a better life abroad. The scale and intimacy of Kingsley's Crossing works especially well as an online piece, as it uses still photographs, video, title cards and first-person narration to create an engaging 20-minute segment. Photojournalist Olivier Jobard, who captured the photographs and videos used in the piece, clearly established a trusting relationship with Kingsley, and their collaboration has created a thought-provoking online documentary.
August 24, 2 pm Calavera Highway
San Diego, CA
Come to a screening of Calavera Highway, and look at one family's legacy of living on the US-Mexico border by following brothers as they search for answers to their family's shattered history. Find out more about the screening!
But whether you're a hardcore word player, or have only a passing interest, you probably love — or at least appreciate — anagrams: the beauty, the wit, the puzzling satisfaction of how it all fits together. In that case, here's a great little film for you: P.O.V.'s latest entry in the Online Short Film Festival, Ars Magna, by Cory Kelley. The seven-mintue gem, presented in glorious full-screen flash (just click the little black full-screen icon at the bottom of the player), is a little loving tribute to one man's obsession with his ars magna, anagrams.
Inspired by the growing number of docs about food that have been coming out lately, P.O.V. staffer Jessica Lee recently took another look at an older film that inspired her.
We hosted our annual P.O.V. brunch on Sunday — a welcome relief from the hectic pace of screenings, parties and general mischief that seems to be the Sundance routine. First to arrive was Steven Sebring and Patti Smith — an artist who changed my life at a formative stage. Steven's film Patti Smith: Dream of Life is an elegiac composition that beautifully integrates Patti's life as a mother, rock musician, artist and poet, activist and ultimately, as she says, "as a worker." It's been a highlight to meet Patti and spend a few minutes with her. Some of the band — Lenny Kaye, Jay Dee Daugherty — arrived a little later. The band members have yet to see the film, so the premiere will be the first time. (More on that later.) 
