Monthly Archive for July, 2006

Getting out of the hiatus

Published
by
Brian
on July 7, 2006
in Film and Filmmaking
. 1 Comment

It’s been at least a few months since I’ve done any serious video editing, and I’m itching to get back in the filmmaking groove. My plan before actually visiting Dancing Rabbit in May was to capture some footage while I was there for a potential mini-documentary, but I soon learned there was no way I could do the ecovillage justice in the few short weeks I was there. (Plus, being behind a camera would have spoiled the initial visiting experience)

Anyway, I very recently made a significant camcorder purchase, and the new guy should be in town and in my hands within less than a week. I have some very loose plans in the works for future projects, but expect to see some new stuff cropping up within the next few months. And yes, there are plans to do a documentary at Dancing Rabbit, but I can’t get into details about how/when, but something will be going down next year.

The next few weeks will be pretty exciting.

Note: Please find all of my cob building related content at my new blog, The Year of Mud: Building a cob house. Thanks! See you there!

If you like what you see here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed, or you can subscribe by email. (See column to the right!) Thanks.

The Journal of Short Film Vol. 4. Soon.

Published
by
Brian
on July 6, 2006
in Current Events, Film, Filmmaking and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

The Journal of Short Film Vol. 4 should be coming soon, so they say. I’m anticipating it quite a bit, since ¡Sí, Se Puede! will be featured on it. Anyway. I’m sure you’ll hear more about it once it is announced/releases/is in my hands.

Darwin’s Nightmare

Published
by
Brian
on July 2, 2006
in Civilization, Culture, Current Events, Environment, Film and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Film: Darwin’s Nightmare

My friend and I stumbled upon this film while surfing through available On Demand movies on television. I was very surprised to see Darwin’s Nightmare listed, considering the film never got a US release. Anyway, I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to watch it, and after viewing it, I can happily recommend it. This is an important documentary.

The film details the Tanzanian fishing community centered around Lake Victoria, the second largest lake in the world. About fity years ago, a foreign species of fish, the Nile Perch was introduced to the lake and it has gone on to wipe out nearly all of the original, native species of fish. Fishermen fish the Nile Perch, which is collected, cleaned, and filleted in Tanzania and shipped overseas to Europe and Japan by cargo planes who make daily trips in to the country. Meanwhile, the Tanzanians are starving, immensely impoverished and famine-stricken, living off of the fishhead remains, while the Nile Perch, one of the biggest available source of food, gets shipped overseas to rich First World peoples.

It’s a very saddening and frustrating viewing experience. Darwin’s Nightmare is an excellent portrayal of the inner workings of modern, globalized civilization. Between the issues of the Nile Perch, which has wreaked ecological disaster upon Tanzania (and you can almost guarantee the fish was introduced by some individual(s) hoping to cash in on its foreseeable boom), and the disgraceful imbalance between the Tanzanians and their “First World” exploiters, the film does a great job of highlighting just one of the instances of destruction, poverty, and exploitation that globalization has spawned.

There’s a lot to this film that’s worth soaking up and contemplating.

This director’s statement says everything: “I could make the same kind of movie
in Sierra Leone, only the fish would be diamonds, in Honduras, bananas, and in Libya, Nigeria or Angola, crude oil.”

End of Suburbia

Published
by
Brian
on July 1, 2006
in Civilization, Culture, Current Events, Environment, Film, Sustainability and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Film: The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream

I remember coming across this film title a while ago, but it was just yesterday that I finally had a chance to sit down and watch the DVD after ordering it a month ago. Nevertheless, I was definitely impressed. The film’s message is very clearly presented, and told through an interesting, modern perspective of the American Dream. The idea is that suburbia has come to encompass and epitomize the ideals behind the original American Dream, and the expansion of this highly unsustainable, and sprawling suburban lifestyle has led to the re-shaping of culture, and the increased exploitation of the earth and its resources.

As a film, The End of Suburbia is a standout because it seems to have been put together by no more than four guys, which is something that I personally respect. The production quality is high, and the number of prolific interviewees is impressive. They are all very well-spoken, and their coverage of the peak oil topic is pretty expansive.

Anyway, the film presents an interesting perspective on the idea of sustainability, and I think its handling of peak oil is very strong. It’s definitely told through a more modern eye, looking more at American history than the thousands of years of civilization that has preceded this country. Nevertheless, it’s message is still valid despite that.

I like it.

Oh, and the follow-up to The End of Suburbia sounds just as exciting. Check it out.

These are exactly the types of films I would want to be involved with.