· January, 2009

Stories about Film from January, 2009

Madagascar's resourceful kids

This week, two videos from Madagascar show us how children make do with their situation and rise above it using ingenuity, creativity and a bit of daring. First is Toky, who makes tin cars out of waste materials, and the other is the Green Boy, a kid who makes a living in the streets not by begging, but by showing off his acrobatic skills.

27 January 2009

Iran: 6000 paintings in a film

Pars Arts writes about Reza Dolatabadi's Khoda,a five minute film comprised of more than 6000 paintings produced over two years. You can watch the film here.

24 January 2009

Russia: Notes on the Crisis, Movies

Megan Case writes about her trip to Russia: “Our friends had stories of their workplaces downsizing, several had been given an extra “vacation” (without pay) or received a pay cut....

24 January 2009

Egypt: Bloggers Divided over Geert Wilders

Amsterdam Appeals Court decided that Geert Wilders, Dutch MP, will be put on trial for his views on Islam. Wilders, and his movie had caused a huge anger wave last year, with both sides denouncing each other. While Perwin Ali thought he deserves to be tried, An Egyptian is blogging for his release.

23 January 2009

Video: Slumdog Millionaire and the Indian Slums

Our new volunteer author for video, Ruchika Muchhala, writes in the Channel 19 blog about Slumdog Millionaire, a film set and filmed in Mumbai, India, which recently won 5 out of 6 Critics Choice Awards and also won all four of the awards it was nominated for at the Golden Globe Awards. This film has sparked debates about how it shows life in India's slums, and the attraction it holds for foreigners.

21 January 2009

India: Much Ado About Slumdog Millionaire

Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan wrote on his blog that India has been portrayed as the Third World's dirty underbelly in Danny Boyle's film Slumdog Millionaire. Aditi Nadkarni at Desicritics has...

15 January 2009

Chile: Videoblogging daily life

From Chile, Paloma Baytelman brings us snippets of daily life and other not-so-common events through her videoblog. Santa driving a bus, voting, and harrassment by costumed characters are only part of what she has uploaded on her site.

8 January 2009

Cuba: Dealing with Racism

As a documentary on racial discrimination in Cuba is released, Havana Times.org republishes a mainstream media article on the debate, while Babalu Blog says: “I guess this reporter figured out...

8 January 2009

Belarus: Minsk meets Hollywood

Andrei Khrapavitski of Belarusian American Blog shares his impressions of Defiance the first Hollywood blockbuster about Belarus – a story of World War II partisans – to hit international moviescreens.

4 January 2009