I had Burma on the brain recently, and all thoughts pointed to documentaries (shocking, I know).
A comic book connoisseur acquaintance was determined to find a comic that could be my entry point into fandom of this genre. I had my doubts, tearing through several options unsuccessfully until he presented me with Guy DeLisle's graphic comic, "Burma Chronicles". I quickly discovered that it was essentially a documentary in comic book form, and boy was I hooked!
The book details via black and white drawings the cartoonist's experience in Burma (officially known as the Union of Myanmar, located in SE Asia), working and caring for his young son while his wife was working with Doctors Without Borders. The country is under authoritative control of the ruling military junta, whose censorship and curtailment of free speech is ongoing and oppressive. So, under challenging circumstances for an artist, he manages to describe the life there in a dry but revealing tone. It's a deeply interesting way to delve into the story of what is happening there, since Burma rarely seems to make the cut with our sorry U.S. news outlets.
I can't wait to dive into his similar chronicles of North Korea and China.
I also attended a screening of the Oscar®-nominated Burma VJ documentary. Having read "Burma Chronicles", I was at least somewhat familiar with the state of this closed country, where video crews are banned. It was still shocking to see many of the horrors captured. This gripping film presents footage shot by an underground troupe of reporters, who manage to capture video of atrocities surrounding a 2007 march by Buddhist monks. These intrepid VJs smuggle the footage out of the country and broadcast it back into Burma and around the world via the internet, knowing they will likely be tortured, imprisoned or killed if discovered. Their footage stands in stark contrast to the propaganda being spread by the ruling military regime.
I'm glad once again that through documentaries - in all their forms - I have a better understanding of what the heck is going on around the globe.
Oy.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Cove
I'm making my way through the Oscar®-nominated documentaries; just one more to go. I saved my Netflix copy of The Cove for a recent rainy day here in Southern California, knowing that this was not going to be a sunshine kind of film. I wasn't wrong.
Part real-life horror film and part thrilling investigative journalism piece, The Cove exposes the gruesome practice of dolphin slaughter in the Japanese seaside hamlet of Tajiji. It all started with Flipper on television in the 1950s (remember him and his happy theme song?), who kicked off the worldwide fascination with these lovable marine mammals. Honestly, how many times have you been to Sea World just to see the dolphin show? A lot, that's how many.
Flipper's trainer was Richard O'Barry, who unwittingly set off the booming dolphin captivity industry for aquariums and marine shows around the world. Upon realizing the harmful effects of captivity on dolphins, he has spent the last several decades as an activist trying to end it. Dolphins are apparently big business, particularly for Tajiji, which is the largest dolphin supplier in the world. However, not every dolphin even makes it into captivity. From September through March every year, 23,000(!) dolphins are slaughtered in a secret cove in Tajiji, away from the sightline of residents. The remaining dolphin meat, full of toxic mercury, is often sold as whale meat to unsuspecting consumers in Japan.
The filmmakers start covertly filming the activities at the cove in order to expose this sickening practice. What is captured on film is heartwrenching, but the hope is that this film can help shame the Japanese into ending this practice before this year's slaughter begins, and allow these beautiful creatures to live freely in the oceans (although that just seems like it will eventually be the lesser of two evils at this point in the environmental decline).
This is an opportunity for a documentary film to make a direct impact on an urgent issue, so I for one hope that The Cove filmmakers get their 45 seconds on Oscar® night to trumpet their message to the masses.
Win one for the Flipper.
Part real-life horror film and part thrilling investigative journalism piece, The Cove exposes the gruesome practice of dolphin slaughter in the Japanese seaside hamlet of Tajiji. It all started with Flipper on television in the 1950s (remember him and his happy theme song?), who kicked off the worldwide fascination with these lovable marine mammals. Honestly, how many times have you been to Sea World just to see the dolphin show? A lot, that's how many.
Flipper's trainer was Richard O'Barry, who unwittingly set off the booming dolphin captivity industry for aquariums and marine shows around the world. Upon realizing the harmful effects of captivity on dolphins, he has spent the last several decades as an activist trying to end it. Dolphins are apparently big business, particularly for Tajiji, which is the largest dolphin supplier in the world. However, not every dolphin even makes it into captivity. From September through March every year, 23,000(!) dolphins are slaughtered in a secret cove in Tajiji, away from the sightline of residents. The remaining dolphin meat, full of toxic mercury, is often sold as whale meat to unsuspecting consumers in Japan.
The filmmakers start covertly filming the activities at the cove in order to expose this sickening practice. What is captured on film is heartwrenching, but the hope is that this film can help shame the Japanese into ending this practice before this year's slaughter begins, and allow these beautiful creatures to live freely in the oceans (although that just seems like it will eventually be the lesser of two evils at this point in the environmental decline).
This is an opportunity for a documentary film to make a direct impact on an urgent issue, so I for one hope that The Cove filmmakers get their 45 seconds on Oscar® night to trumpet their message to the masses.
Win one for the Flipper.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Papers
I have always been fascinated by the '70s Watergate era - All the President's Men, Katherine Graham and The Washington Post, Executive branch hubris and more. One of the most intriguing events of this era spurred my favorite legal case - New York Times Co. v. United States - otherwise known as the Pentagon Papers case.
Earlier this month, I had the great pleasure to attend a UCLA screening of the new Oscar®-nominated documentary about this event, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. Judith Erlich and Rick Goldsmith have crafted an enthralling film that plays out like an nail-biting thriller. It's a must-see.
Daniel Ellsberg was a Defense Department analyst at RAND, who at one time was a Pentagon employee and Vietnam War envoy patrolling the jungles. He became disillusioned that the U.S. government was lying to the American people about the scope of our involvement and likelihood of victory in the war, in the midst of escalating conflict. In 1971, he covertly copied and leaked the Pentagon Papers, a classified history of U.S. involvement in the war, to the New York Times in order to expose these lies. Their publication of the documents sparked the historic court case which went to the core of First Amendment rights, changed public opinion about the war, and ultimately helped end it. It also led to President Nixon forming his White House Plumbers Squad to discredit Ellsberg, and later, to the events of Watergate.
Dr. Ellsberg attended the event for a lively Q&A and discussion after the screening. It was quite a thrill to hear from this legendary whistleblower at a time when the U.S. is once again engaged in a similar decades-long conflict in Afgahnistan. Whatever your politics, Ellberg's story of great personal risk in the face of a moral dilemma is awe-inspiring and certainly begs the question, "What would you have done in his shoes?".
Hmm.
Earlier this month, I had the great pleasure to attend a UCLA screening of the new Oscar®-nominated documentary about this event, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. Judith Erlich and Rick Goldsmith have crafted an enthralling film that plays out like an nail-biting thriller. It's a must-see.
Daniel Ellsberg was a Defense Department analyst at RAND, who at one time was a Pentagon employee and Vietnam War envoy patrolling the jungles. He became disillusioned that the U.S. government was lying to the American people about the scope of our involvement and likelihood of victory in the war, in the midst of escalating conflict. In 1971, he covertly copied and leaked the Pentagon Papers, a classified history of U.S. involvement in the war, to the New York Times in order to expose these lies. Their publication of the documents sparked the historic court case which went to the core of First Amendment rights, changed public opinion about the war, and ultimately helped end it. It also led to President Nixon forming his White House Plumbers Squad to discredit Ellsberg, and later, to the events of Watergate.
Dr. Ellsberg attended the event for a lively Q&A and discussion after the screening. It was quite a thrill to hear from this legendary whistleblower at a time when the U.S. is once again engaged in a similar decades-long conflict in Afgahnistan. Whatever your politics, Ellberg's story of great personal risk in the face of a moral dilemma is awe-inspiring and certainly begs the question, "What would you have done in his shoes?".
Hmm.
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