Disability

Posted on February 9, 2012 by miguelsdv

3000 OBSTÁCULOS
28´34´´ Documental. 2011
Idioma Original: castellano/euskera
Subtítulos: Sí Director: ION ETXEZARRETA ESPARZA

Guión: ion etxezarreta esparza
Música Original: ernesto amondarain
retrato coral en el día a día de personas con minusvalías físicas:naiara,luisi,javier,entre la denuncia social y el afán de superación..

BLINDNESS (2008) Fernando Meirelles

Blindness
Runtime: 121 mins
Directors: Fernando Meirelles
Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga..

The film “explains a story full of moral dilemmas, more than the novel, where things are presented more in black and white. I tried to add more grays to the tale”, Meirelles explained, and he added that “this is a story that will raise tons of questions, but that doesn’t give concrete answers”. Mierelles

Review:
The catastrophe begins with a terrified Japanese businessman (Yusuke Iseya) who goes blind at the wheel of his luxury car, seeing only a milky whiteness, and passes his condition to an opportunist thief (Don McKellar) who is pretending to help him; the businessman is taken by his wife to an eye doctor (Mark Ruffalo) who is also treating a high-class prostitute (Alice Braga) who unwittingly passes the terrible plague to the barman (Gael García Bernal) at the hotel where she plies her trade – and so it goes on.

All these people, in this casual chain of human non-contact, are led like terrified animals into the sordid, hellish blindness camp: they neither knew nor much cared who they brushed up against in the teeming city, but now this sequence of indifference is transformed into a horribly important choreography of doom. The key fact is that one inmate, the doctor’s wife, played by Julianne Moore, can secretly see; she alone must bear the burden of observing how horrendous the world can become.

The world of the blindness camp is an unthinkable nightmare, but for all its horror and despair, it is not aimed at us with precisely the same realist stab as, say, Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men. As in the book, none of the characters is named and the occasional musing voiceover and comic interlude indicate that the proceedings are to be taken seriously, but somehow not entirely literally. When I first saw this, it reminded me of both George Romero’s zombie movies and Peter Shaffer’s stage-play Black Comedy; on a second viewing, this latter, absurdist quality predominates, although with a darker hue: the white blindness as black tragedy. Cinema is a visual medium, so no film version of Blindness could entirely reproduce its buried literary conceit of the “blind” reader having to imagine what the narrator is describing, and yet this film is an intelligent, tightly constructed, supremely confident adaptation.

*Interview-<a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2008/nov/20/fernando-meirelles-on-blindness” title=”Interview”> In the director´s chair</a> (The Guardian)

What do you think about the way blind people are treated in this film. Do you agree with the following commentaries?

Activists plan protest of movie ‘Blindness’
From BBC, AP/MSNBC:

The National Federation of the Blind has announced plans to stage protests against the movie “Blindness” at 75 theaters across the country when it opens this weekend.

The NFB says the movie, a Miramax Films release starring Julianne Moore, reinforces inaccurate stereotypes by portraying blind people as helpless, perpetually disoriented and unable to care for themselves.

“We face a 70 percent unemployment rate and other social problems because people don’t think we can do anything, and this movie is not going to help – at all,” said Christopher Danielsen, a spokesman for the NFB.
Based on a novel by Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago, the film depicts a mysterious epidemic that causes residents of a town to go blind, resulting in a collapse of the social order. Blind people are portrayed as quarantined in a mental asylum, attacking each other, soiling themselves and trading sex for food.

“The movie portrays blind people as monsters, and I believe it to be a lie,” said Marc Maurer, president of the NFB. “Blindness doesn’t turn decent people into monsters.”

What do you think about this commentary once you have seen the video?
I am not against this video or ike but I do jus wanna say that ppl with downs and other disabilities rally to be treated fairly and like they are jus like everyone else and then exceptions like this are made…. mixed signal…. I think so. Either treat them like everyone else or treat them special. Either way go ike and to lakestevens good sportsmanship. I went to school in the area and they do have a fierce rivalry
trailer of the film BLINDSIGHT

Interview to the director of Blindsight (Lucy Walker)

808pimpcess hace 3 meses

Food / Adventure Films

Posted on February 9, 2012 by miguelsdv

Films about:
FOOD:
Estómago (by Marcos Jorge Brazil)

It describes the rise of an idiot with a talent for haute cuisine cooking, and in a very original touch it tells the same story twice with the same protagonist: once in prison and once as a flashback in the free world. It is an odd hybrid which can best be described as “Ratatouille” (yes, the Pixar movie) meets “Carandiru” (yes, the Brazilian prison drama).

This film is one of those happy discoveries you can only have at a film festival. A sexy mix of comedy, good food and violence, Marcos Jorge’s film actually made me hungry while watching it.

More after the break…

The Story:

Raimundo Nonato (João Miguel) is a country simpleton who arrives penniless in a big Brazilian city. Doing odd-jobs at a snack bar for food and lodging only, his future seems dire until he is allowed to assist with the food. Suddenly it turns out Raimundo is surprisingly talented, being able to work miracles with the simplest of ingredients. His cooking also wins him the affection of prostitute Íria, who is happy to share his bed on occasion in return for good food. When he quickly gets snatched up by the owner of a fancy restaurant it suddenly seems like the only way for Raimundo is up…

But alas, this is all a flashback, because the present is quite different:

Raimundo Nonato (João Miguel) is a simpleton who arrives in jail, banished to a cell he has to share with seven others. Beaten into the filthiest corner for being the new guy, his future seems dire until he lets slip of the fact that he can actually cook. His cellmates discover that Raimundo is surprisingly talented, being able to work miracles with the simplest of ingredients. His cooking also wins him a little respect from top-dog Bujiú, which increases his status. When Bujiú plans a feast to win the favor of feared imprisoned crime boss Etcetera it suddenly seems like the only way for Raimundo is up…

But how will his prison adventure end? And why did he have to go to prison in the first place?

Babette´s Feast (Academy Award in 1986 for Best Foreign Film).
“Babette’s Feast,” is about edible art — Art with a capital A — a precise and elegant piece, is adapted from Isak Dinesen’s short story by director Gabriel Axel. Axel is uniquely suited to this story of a culinary genius who spends 14 years in Jutland smoking cod. And then one day she stuns the taciturn Jutlanders by preparing a mighty feast.

…from an interesting book by Jean Renoir where you can read ” Is the cinema an art?
I answer:”It doesn´t matter” one can make films or just work in gardening. Both jobs are art in the same way a Verlaine´s poem or a Delacroix´ picture are art. If the films are good, or the garden is being taken care of properly, one is practising the art of gardening or the art of film making. The authors of both activities are artists. The cook who makes a good meal is an artist…

We will mainly focus on the last part of the film (after doing a short introduction of the plot) to see the main character, the cook, doing her job and going over her background.

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

part 6

part 7

part 8

part 9

part 10

Background information about some themes which are important to understand the film:
<a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune”>The COMMUNE</a>
The cook flew from Paris as she belonged to this French movement

<a href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/babettesfeastnrkempley_a0ca1c.htm”>Review </a>of the film

<a href=”http://www.fuhem.es/cip-ecosocial/dossier-intercultural/contenido/Cine.pdf”>Didactic Unit </a>about Babette´s Feast and Bagdad´s Café
ADVENTURE

:<a href=”http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500141h.html” title=”Lost Horizon” target=”_blank”> Lost Horizon </a>by Frank Capra,1937

Science Fiction

Posted on February 9, 2012 by miguelsdv

MATRIX

REVIEW
“No one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.” says Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), the earnest, elegant John the Baptist figure in the Wachowski brothers’ allegorical science fiction masterpiece. Well, we’ll give it a shot.

He’s talking to Neo (Keanu Reeves), a blank-faced computer whizz who’s about to go through the looking glass – out of the late 20th century world as he knows it, into the real, post-apocalyptic “desert of the real”.

It’s a reality where robots rule the planet and keep humans plugged into a virtual reality matrix, living in a dream world, while their energy fuels the machines.

Morpheus thinks Neo is The One, the messiah figure who will destroy the Matrix and resurrect humanity. Fellow freedom fighter Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) is convinced too. But Neo isn’t certain, and will have to face the pernicious, powerful, Matrix meanie Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) to find out.

At first viewing, the action sequences stun, but there’s more to this than the groundbreaking “bullet time” photography, or the adolescent allure of flash, black clothes and big, black guns.

Sure, “The Matrix” is almost untenably cool, but beneath the sheen there’s substance. The story’s a potent mix of buddhism, Greek mythology, and – predominantly – the Christian gospel.

The image of a superficial existence, where ignorant people thrive by blocking out a troublesome reality, is potent for a Western society drowning in wealth while the rest of the world suffers.

The performances, too, wow. Admittedly Reeves is gifted the perfect role – he has to look good while hitting things – but Moss is charismatic, clever and sexy, while Fishburne is monumental.

Nestling next to “The Terminator” and “Metropolis”, this is one the finest sci-fi flicks ever made.

Review/ commentaries (from megazine Making-of issue 80 or 81 pages 22,23)

To be translated …

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (146 minutes)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence focuses on one aspect of the human condition: love. The film poses the question, what is the true essence of love? And if man is capable of defining what love is, what would happen if you were then able to program a robot with the feeling?

A.I. Artificial Intelligence is set in some undetermined future, after cataclysmic floods had devastated the world, when families are restricted to one offspring. When Monica and Henry Swinton (Frances O’Connor and Sam Robards) are told their young boy Martin (Jake Thomas) is unlikely to recover from the condition that has caused him to be cryogenically frozen for five years in the hope of finding a cure, they are devastated. To Professor Hobby (William Hurt) of the pioneering firm Cybertronics, the Swintons appear the perfect couple with whom to place one of their latest and most sophisticated mechas. Humanoid robots, mechas are type specific, so you can have a hairdressing mecha, a butler mecha or even a gigolo mecha. Hobby’s latest project is to build a robot child that can be programmed to love its adopted Orga parents. David (Haley Joel Osment) is the first such loving mecha to be placed.

Films about: FOOD, Babette´s Feast, ADVENTURE: The man who would be king by John Huston,1975. Lost Horizon by Frank Capra,1937

Posted on November 8, 2011 by miguelsdv

Films about:
FOOD: Babette´s Feast (Academy Award in 1986 for Best Foreign Film).
“Babette’s Feast,” is about edible art — Art with a capital A — a precise and elegant piece, is adapted from Isak Dinesen’s short story by director Gabriel Axel. Axel is uniquely suited to this story of a culinary genius who spends 14 years in Jutland smoking cod. And then one day she stuns the taciturn Jutlanders by preparing a mighty feast.

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

part 6

part 7

part 8

part 9

part 10

ADVENTURE

: Lost Horizon by Frank Capra,1937

Emigration/ Inmigration

Posted on September 24, 2011 by miguelsdv

2. EMIGRATION/INMIGRATION
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
After having seen The Visitor, Welcome a part of 14 Kilometres, and some shorcuts about racism, debate in groups about some of the following points:

1.What do you think about the reasons to emigrate of the different characters from the films?(political reasons, gender and violence matters,love reasons, economical reasons…to reach a dream -become a football player-)
2. After talking to your parents, grandparents…could you talk about people from your country who emigrated? Why did they go to America, other European countries? Do you know something about this matter?

3.Game.
a)”Ponerse en el lugar del otro” What would you do if you were in his/her place?(chose any of the characters from the films).
b)What would you do in five or six years time,time to look for a job, if the unemployment situation continues?.

Video related to the two topics we have seen up till now.
Follow part of this lecture or talk by CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE (a Nigerian writer)to be discussed in class.
In the link you can choose English or Spanish subtitles.
In Youtube you can see the first part with Spanish subtitles.

Said´s journey (short cut)

THE VISITOR 1.45″ -2008/
by Thomas McCarthy (director of THE STATION AGENT 2003 a very good film)
—————-
After watching the film, read the following questions and work in class with your partners to talk about them.

1.- Find out the meaning of the following legal terms:
asylum, bag and baggage letter, deportation, detention, removal proceeding or deportation proceeding, due process, green card.

2- Which of the characters in the film did you relate to most? Why?

3-Why do you think Walter decides to let Tarek and Zainab stay at his apartment even though he knows nothing about them?

4-In your opinion, who is “the visitor”? In what way is each character “visiting”?

5- What was the most memorable moment in the film? Why?

6-Think of someone in your life who immigrated to your country. Why did they come here? What hardships has s/he faced as an immigrant?

7-What was your impression of the detention center? What did you notice? Is this different from what you expected?

8-What do we as global/American citizens have to gain or lose by providing immigrants and refugees with the right to due process?

9-What are arguments for and against detaining immigrants and refugees in prison-like conditions?

10-Can you think of alternative ways the U.S. government could handle cases like Tarek’s?

11-How do you think Tarek’s deportation will affect each character’s view of the world?

12-Is there any situation in the film you could consider racist?

These questions are taken from “The Visitor” Discussion Guide.
Read part of one of the reviews. Do you agree with the last paragraph? Do you have anything to add?
Review:
…a mellow, laid-back, and entirely satisfying little “people” movie, one that finds the beauty in the small gestures of genorisity: McCarthy finds a lot of beauty in the strangest friendships, and as The Visitor moves into more political areas (Tarek gets tossed into jail for no good reason), the director is careful to let the characters take precedence over the “issues.” Obviously the film has a lot to say about the Arab experience in America today, but The Visitor is much more interested in its interpersonal relationships than it is in climbing a soapbox and preaching to the choir. (Icing on the cake: In addition to Jenkins’ fantastic performance, newcomer Haaz Sleiman (as Tarek) is really quite excellent.)

The result is a movie with a message, sure, but it works even better as a touching look at a lonely man who finds some warmth, friendship and affection in the most unexpected of places: His own forgotten apartment.

###################################
WELCOME – Movie Trailer
—————————–

Questions (from Didactic Guide- IPES)
1.
2.

###################################
14 kilómetros (dvd)

Los Invisibles (by Garcia Bernal in colaboration with Amnesty International)

14 KILOMETRES
Directed by Gerardo Olivares

REVIEW
by Felipe Gómez Isa
Fourteen kilometers is the geographical distance between the African continent and the South of Europe. It is, however, more than that. It also serves as the insurmountable obstacle that negates the dreams of millions of African teenagers who see the Western world as their only hope to escape from hunger, misery, and despair. 14 Kilometres,a road movie, wisely combines fiction and documentary to explore the human dimensions (and, unfortunately, inhuman dimensions) of the dramatic adventure of Sub-Saharan African migration to Europe. This journey can last months or even years, and all too often the final destiny is death—either in the sands of the desert or in the dangerous waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

The film 14 Kilometres is based on the story of Violeta Sunny, Buba Kanou, and Mukela Kanou, who represent an entire generation of African young people whose only desire is to migrate to Europe. Violeta escapes from a forced marriage with a much older man of her village and his repeated sexual abuse; Buba wants to be a football (soccer) star for one of the leading European teams, and he travels the entire way with a t-shirt of Real Madrid and a foot ball; and the third traveller is Mukela, Buba’s brother, who is responsible for convincing his brother to leave his village and make the journey but who ultimately dies in the harsh desert.

The three initiate their odyssey in Niger, crossing the Tenere and the Saharan deserts until they reach the Moroccan coast, where only two of them finally make it to their imagined “promised land.” In the course of their trip they face police corruption, the severity and cruelty of the desert, and unscrupulous human traffickers. However, they also experience the solidarity of the peoples of the desert, the Touareg. One of the culminating moments of the film is when a Touareg leader addresses Violeta and Buba with these words: “the future is here, in Africa.” This is one of the subliminal messages that the author wants to convey: migration is not the solution to the collective tragedy that the African continent is suffering. There are a number of remarkable aspects of this film. One is the stunning beauty of the cruel desert itself. Another is the film’s commitment to human beings and its capacity to illustrate the human suffering involved in the hard and extenuating migration process, a perspective that has not received much attention so far. As the Spanish writer Rosa Montero declares in the final scene of the movie: “They will keep coming and will keep dying, since history shows that there is no wall with the capacity to stop dreams.”

As a postscript, at the time of writing, May 2008, more than 1,200 Sub-Saharan migrants, including little children, are living in the surroundings of the Moroccan city of Oujda, fifteen kilometers away from the Algerian border, waiting for their opportunity to start their hazardous sojourn once again. They face extreme conditions, and survival depends on mutual solidarity and the support of NGOs. But, as a woman from Nigeria says, “I will try it again.” Highly recommended

8. Animation Cinema / Short Films. Princess Mononoke…

Posted on May 31, 2011 by miguelsdv

.Other films:SHORT FILMS, ANIMATION “anime” Cinema Princess Mononoke…
PRINCESS MONONOKE (directed by Hayao Miyazaki )
Review
SEE THE VIDEO about the review!!!.

PRINCESS MONONOKE (directed by Hayao Miyazaki )
Plot:
Princess Mononoke combines high-quality animation with a mythology-based tale of morals and environmental crisis. Ashitaka defends his village from a giant boar that has become a demon but in the process acquires its curse. He sets off to cure himself and discovers Irontown, where the inhabitants have learned to forge iron, make weapons and are working to clear the forest and subdue the animals. The animals have become angered at this invasion and are actively working to defend their land. Ashitaka hopes the humans and the animals can live together in peace, which puts him in great danger.

Review
BY Roger Ebert
Running Time: 133 Minutes. Dubbed Into English
I go to the movies for many reasons. Here is one of them. I want to see wonderful sights not available in the real world, in stories where myth and dreams are set free to play. Animation opens that possibility, because it is freed from gravity and the chains of the possible. Realistic films show the physical world; animation shows its essence. Animated films are not copies of “real movies,” are not shadows of reality, but create a new existence in their own right. True, a lot of animation is insipid, and insulting even to the children it is made for. But great animation can make the mind sing.
Hayao Miyazaki is a great animator, and his “Princess Mononoke” is a great film. It tells an epic story set in medieval Japan, at the dawn of the Iron Age, when some men still lived in harmony with nature and others were trying to tame and defeat it. It is not a simplistic tale of good and evil, but the story of how humans, forest animals and nature gods all fight for their share of the new emerging order. It is one of the most visually inventive films I have ever seen.
The movie opens with a watchtower guard spotting “something wrong in the forest.” There is a disturbance of nature, and out of it leaps a remarkable creature, a kind of boar-monster with flesh made of writhing snakes. It attacks villagers, and to the defense comes Ashitaka, the young prince of his isolated people. He is finally able to slay the beast, but his own arm has been wrapped by the snakes and is horribly scarred.
A wise woman is able to explain what has happened. The monster was a boar god, until a bullet buried itself in its flesh and drove it mad. And where did the bullet come from? “It is time,” says the woman, “for our last prince to cut his hair and leave us.” And so Ashitaka sets off on a long journey to the lands of the West, to find out why nature is out of joint, and whether the curse on his arm can be lifted. He rides Yakkuru, a beast that seems part horse, part antelope, part mountain goat.
There are strange sights and adventures along the way, and we are able to appreciate the quality of Miyazaki’s artistry. The drawing is not simplistic, but has some of the same “clear line” complexity used by the Japanese graphic artists of two centuries ago, who inspired such modern works as Herge’s Tintin books. Nature is rendered majestically (Miyazaki’s art directors journeyed to ancient forests to make their master drawings) and fancifully (as with the round little forest sprites). There are also brief, mysterious appearances of the spirit of the forest, who by day seems to be a noble beast, and at night a glowing light.
Ashitaka eventually arrives in an area that is prowled by Moro, a wolf god, and sees for the first time the young woman named San. She is also known as “Princess Mononoke,” but that’s more a description than a name; a mononoke is the spirit of a beast. San was a human child, raised as a wolf by Moro; she rides bareback on the swift white spirit-wolves and helps the pack in their battle against the encroachments of Lady Eboshi, a strong ruler whose village is developing ironworking skills and manufactures weapons using gunpowder.
As Lady Eboshi’s people gain one kind of knowledge, they lose another, and the day is fading when men, animals and the forest gods all speak the same language. The lush green forests through which Ashitaka traveled west have been replaced here by a wasteland; trees have been stripped to feed the smelting furnaces, and on their skeletons, yellow-eyed beasts squat ominously. Slaves work the bellows of the forges, and lepers make the weapons.
But all is not black and white. The lepers are grateful that Eboshi accepts them. Her people enjoy her protection. Even Jigo, a scheming agent of the emperor, has motives that sometimes make a certain amount of sense. When a nearby samurai enclave wants to take over the village and its technology, there is a battle with more than one side and more than one motive. This is more like mythical history than action melodrama.
The artistry in “Princess Mononoke” is masterful. The writhing skin of the boar-monster is an extraordinary sight, one that would be impossible to create in any live-action film. The great white wolves are drawn with grace, and not sentimentalized; when they bare their fangs, you can see that they are not friendly comic pals, but animals who can and will kill.
The movie does not dwell on violence, which makes some of its moments even more shocking, as when Ashitaka finds that his scarred arm has developed such strength that his arrow decapitates an enemy.
The drama is underlaid with Miyazaki’s deep humanism, which avoids easy moral simplifications. There is a remarkable scene where San and Ashitaka, who have fallen in love, agree that neither can really lead the life of the other, and so they must grant each other freedom, and only meet occasionally. You won’t find many Hollywood love stories (animated or otherwise) so philosophical. “Princess Mononoke” is a great achievement and a wonderful experience, and one of the best films of the year.

2. MOVIE INFORMATION

This $20 million animated adventure/fantasy quickly became the highest grossing Japanese film in Japanese film history (making $150 million in Japan during its first seven months). Set in the 14th century, the ecology-themed epic was directed by Hayao Miyazaki whose previous films were acquired by Disney for U.S. distribution plus other territories. Princess Mononoke depicts a mystical battle between Animal Gods of the forest and humans during Japan’s Muromachi Period. Young Ashitaka receives a fatal infection after a demonic wild boar attacks his northern village. Seeking a cure, he sets out to locate the deer-like god Shishigami. Along the way, he sees the rape of the Earth by a mining village. The constant plundering by the village has brought the wrath of the Wolf God, Moro, who attacks the village along with San, a human who was raised by the wolf god. She communicates with the nature spirits — which is why she is called Princess Mononoke (“spirits of things”). Ashitaka wants these opposing forces to co-exist, and he hopes to bring peace between San and the ironworks owner, Lady Eboshi. However, he is thwarted as higher powers, intent on killing the Shishigama, intrude, and a battle erupts over the future of all nature. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

SHORT FILMS:

SHORT FILMS, A SUBJECT TO LEARN

El cortometraje es un vehículo idóneo para la sensibilización y la educación de la imagen. La brevedad de su discurso, la libertad de su narratividad, sus variaciones formales, su creatividad y el riesgo de algunas de sus propuestas, entre otras virtudes, lo convierten en un medio particularmente propicio para el aprendizaje y la educación en la imagen. Los cortos son una herramienta educativa propicia para esta labor. Afortunadamente, los cortos están adquiriendo más protagonismo en las aulas, tanto de primaria como de secundaria.

Para los estudiantes y para quienes quieren iniciarse en el mundo cinematográfico, los cortometrajes son uno de los recursos principales en su formación. Deberían ser algo más que un campo de pruebas que en el que, después de su visionado, se mostraran diversas opiniones.

Docentes y estudiantes debería aprovecharse de este recurso acercándose a los componentes de los procesos creativos y de géneros para contribuir en la formación del gusto, sensibilidad, curiosidad y espíritu crítico, además de su desarrollo cultural.
From:El cortometraje, asignatura para el aprendizaje from tv programme SOMOS CORTOS RTVE2

1- FOR THE BIRDS (PIXAR)

2-OKTAPODI (2007 Oscar winner to the best animation short film

3- ALMA by Rodrigo Blas

4- El mueble de las fotos by Giovanni Maccelli

5- Flatmates 3.0 by Francesco Marisei

6-Ataque de pánico / Panic Attack by Federico Álvarez (Uruguay)(Cost:300 dollars)

Cinema, Documentaries & Debates

Posted on May 7, 2011 by miguelsdv

1.HUMAN RIGHTS :

Introduction (4 minutes video)
This Land Is Mine by Jean Renoir (5.35)
Situation of H.R in Tibet/ Nomads (Parts Videos “Leaving Fear Behind” and “The Story of the Weeping Camel” (parts 3 to 9).This film is related to the Environment- Ecology section.
Read the interview to Salil Shetty (president of Amnesty International on WIRE megazine,pages 13,14).

2.MIGRATION :

Films:
-The Visitor
– Welcome
– 14 Kilometros
– Los Invisibles (English version) by García Bernal (you can see this film in Spanish or English)

3.RACISM

-Strangers (14 minutes)
-Several videos Research about racism. Short film, “Black doll White doll, two songs…

4.ENVIRONMENT- ECOLOGY

– Green the film + Official page greenthefilm.com
– Tierra (English with Spanish subtitles)
– Home (English with subtitles)
– Wall-e (only some fragments)

5. GENDER

Films: -Real Women Have Curves
– Telma & Louis
-Antonia’s Line (fragments)
– Los Invisibles ( English subt-part two: Six out of ten)By Gael García Bernal
-Remesas, Short film (English subt)

6.CONSUMERISM

Documentary about “Absolescencia programada” (English, Spanish, French ,Catalan)
” or Short film: STUFF.

7. SEXUAL ORIENTATION

- Different ads and Short films
-Fucking Amal
-C.R.A.Z.Y
- Didactic Guide (Amnesty International.Sexual Minorities)

8 . Other themes
-Anime Cinema: The Princess Minonoke
– Short films (short cuts)

9. Publicity

6.Consumerism

Posted on May 5, 2011 by miguelsdv

6. CONSUMERISM:

Planned Obsolescence/environment/ "decrecimiento"…

* Planned obsolescence
Sometimes marketers deliberately introduce obsolescence into their product strategy, with the objective of generating long-term sales volume by reducing the time between repeat purchases. One example might be producing an appliance which is deliberately designed to wear out within five years of its purchase, pushing consumers to replace it within five years.

After watching this documentary (in several languages and with subtitles in Spanish ),we will start a debate about the different matters you can find in it.

The Stuff Story (with English and Chinesse subtitles)

3. Racism

Posted on May 5, 2011 by miguelsdv

3. About RACISM
—————————————–
Kenneth Bancroft Clark (July 14, 1914 – May 1, 2005) and Mamie Phipps Clark (October 18, 1917 – August 11, 1983)[1] were African-American psychologists who as a married team conducted important research among children and were active in the Civil Rights Movement. They founded the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem . Kenneth Clark also was an educator and first Black president of the American Psychological Association.
They were known for their 1940s experiments using dolls to study children’s attitudes about race. The Clarks testified as expert witnesses in Briggs v. Elliott, one of the cases rolled into Brown v. Board of Education (1954). The Clarks’ work contributed to the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in which it determined that de jure racial segregation in public education was unconstitutional. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote in the Brown v. Board opinion, “To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone”.
In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante named Kenneth Clark on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

Source: Wikipedia

A conversation about race

###################################

Hello! I hope this time you enjoy the video Strangers. We will work on it during our lessons this week. I hope you think and reflect about it.

One of the songs sung by Senead O’connor (the song belongs to Bob Marley,WAR) is also about racism. What do you think about these ways of fighting against racism? What happens at the end of Senead’s concert?. In the song war you can follow the subtitles in Spanish. She changes some of the words for the sentece “child abuse”. What do you think about this way of criticism?

4 Environment

Posted on May 5, 2011 by miguelsdv

4. ENVIRONMENT – ECOLOGY
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Learn more about everything related to this fascinating film in:

www.greenthefilm.com

GREEN a film by Patrick Rouxel

Her name is Green, she is alone in a world that doesn’t belong to her. She is a female orang-utan, victim of deforestation and resource exploitation. …

WATCH THE VIDEO GREEN IN YOUTUBE

Questions to think about the film:

1.Do you agree in doing something to:a) save the orangutan and other wild life
b) save more paper / wood / and food or cosmetics which use palm oil
If your answer is yes. Why would you do it?

2.After reading a bit about Willie Smits

Would you like to support his Fundation or any other organization such as Greenpeace
or
organizations for the “decrecimiento” (Ecologistas en acción…)

3.Do you know anything about the investments many banks make in industries which give a big profit such us the ones you have read about in the official page of the film (greenthefilm.com ), and about the “banca ética”

4.How could you, your class or the school colaborate with this “enviromental matters”?

=================================================================================

HOME (in English)
—————–
It will be used the VD we have with subtitles as it is not possible to find it in Youtube.