World Will End In Exactly One Year
Well … maybe. A couple of years ago I produced a documentary about the now infamous end-date of the Mayan Long Count Calendar, December 21, 2012. Today is the Winter Solstice, and exactly one year remains until the current cycle of the Long Count Calendar expires. What does that mean? We asked many experts and wannabe experts in the film and as a special Winter Solstice offer, we’re pleased to bring you the opportunity to see their answers for just $2.49 (3-Day Rental). Enjoy!
For more information on the film, the experts and the companion book by Alexandra Bruce, visit 2012SOS.com.
Your Thoughts on “Thrive”
THRIVE is an unconventional documentary that lifts the veil on what’s REALLY going on in our world by following the money upstream — uncovering the global consolidation of power in nearly every aspect of our lives. Weaving together breakthroughs in science, consciousness and activism, THRIVE offers real solutions, empowering us with unprecedented and bold strategies for reclaiming our lives and our future.
‘Kill The Messenger’ A Documentary About Sibel Edmonds
Via Just A Citizen:
In the wake of September 11, 2001, Sibel Edmonds is approached by the FBI. As an American of Iranian and Turkish origin, Edmonds’ linguistic skill-set makes her a valuable asset to the Language Services Unit, where she spends months translating high-security clearance documents. One day shortly after reporting the possible infiltration of her unit by Turkish spies to her supervisors and their supervisors, Edmonds’ world is turned upside-down.
Instead of seeing her colleague become the target of an investigation, she is interrogated, then unceremoniously fired and warned not to pursue her claims any further as she would be watched and listened to. In the years that follow, Edmonds is transformed into the country’s first public National Security whistle-blower and a prominent First Amendment advocate (the ACLU calls her the “most gagged woman in America”).
WikiSecrets: The Inside Story of Bradley Manning & The Largest Intelligence Breach in U.S. History (Video)
Worth watching, available now on Frontline’s website. Here’s part one of five:
Sarah Palin’s Feature Length Film To Premiere In June
Photo: David Shankbone
When is enough enough? Real Clear Politics reports:
Shortly after Republicans swept last November to a historic victory in which Sarah Palin was credited with playing a central role, the former Alaska governor pulled aside her close aide, Rebecca Mansour, to discuss a hush-hush assignment: Reach out to conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon with a request. Ask him if he would make a series of videos extolling Palin’s governorship and laying to rest lingering questions about her controversial decision to resign from office with a year-and-a-half left in her first term. It was this abdication, Palin knew, that had made her damaged goods in the eyes of some Republicans who once were eager to get behind her potential 2012 presidential campaign.
The response was more positive than Palin could have hoped for. He’d make a feature-length movie, Bannon told Mansour, and he insisted upon taking complete control and financing it himself — to…
Why Don’t More People Care About Criminal Activity in Our Recent ‘Financial Crisis’? (Video)
If I had to pick one issue that I think many more people should really, really be curious about, I’d say the backstory behind so-called recent “financial crisis”, (which has been documented in such films as Inside Job, Capitalism: A Love Story and Plunder: The Crime of Our Time to name a few), is at the top of my list. Therefore, I was surprised when I saw at the end of the Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg comedy, The Other Guys, to find this “message” embedded in a mainstream entertainment film. As Gary Susman wrote on Moviefone’s Blog:
The movie may be a silly farce about New York cops who stumble upon a Bernie Madoff-like Ponzi scheme that threatens to defraud billions from city workers. But buried in the comedy is a serious point about what really constitutes grand theft these days, a point illustrated over the closing credits by a PowerPoint-like presentation full of jazzy infographics and serious statistics outlining just how much Wall Street and corporate leaders have enriched themselves at the expense of American workers and taxpayers…
It’s a fascinating sequence, both from a design perspective and from the unlikely prospect of seeing a major corporation (in this case, Sony) release a mass-entertainment movie that also wants to educate moviegoers about the legalized wealth-grab that’s benefiting major corporations…
Living Inside The Westboro Baptist Church
Wondering what it would be like to live in a cult? British documentarian Louis Theroux spent several days in the Kansas homes of members of the Westboro Baptist Church and filmed the experience for the BBC — basically opening a giant can of crazy.
Crop Circles In New York City
The best crop circle documentary yet, Suzanne Taylor’s What On Earth? has landed in New York with special screenings all week at Manhattan’s Quad Cinema (Wednesday April 27th’s evening screening features Suzanne, Alex and Allyson Grey and Daniel Pinchbeck, moderated by disinformation’s Gary Baddeley).
The New York Times just reviewed the film, calling it:
A cheery, chummy documentary about the pastoral patterns inaccurately described as crop circles…
… Merging homey interviews with photographs and film of the hundreds of varieties of patterns (which pop up mysteriously overnight and are found all over the world), the film makes no pretense of objectivity or analysis. Everyone on screen — most sporting little blue flowers in their lapels, like a club insignia — is convinced of an intelligence behind the designs.
The film’s main attractions, though, are the patterns themselves: fantastically precise whorls and curlicues, radiolaria and mandalas that drift across the screen like the endlessly reforming crystals in a kaleidoscope.…
Morgan Spurlock’s Fully-Financed Via Product Placement Film: ‘The Greatest Movie Ever Sold’ (Video)
‘First Orbit’ Celebrates Today’s 50th Anniversary Of Man In Space
Move over PBS: YouTube/Google funded this very cool and very free movie about the beginning of spaceflight, with today being exactly 50 years since Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.
You can download the movie or watch it on YouTube.
From the official First Orbit site:
April 12th 1961 – Yuri Gagarin is about to see what no other person has seen in the history of
humanity – the Earth from space…
2 To 3 Minutes In Hell: Cleaning Chernobyl
A gripping, short documentary video of the horrifying challenge confronting the Soviet Union’s “biorobots” — soldiers, scientists, and civilians who were tasked with the emergency cleanup following the explosions at Chernobyl. Radio-controlled robotic machines were used at first, but their circuitry broke down from the radiation, leaving humans with shovels as the only option.
The Hidden Reality Of Japanese Nuclear Plant Workers
The 1995 investigative documentary Nuclear Ginza exposes radiation poisoning among workers inside Japan’s nuclear power industry:
How To Start Your Own Religion
One of the best films I saw at South By Southwest (SXSW) this year was Vikram Gandhi’s documentary Kumaré, in which New Jersey-born and raised Gandhi decides to pass himself off as an Indian guru (he is of Indian descent) to see if people will buy into his fake persona as a spiritually enlightened teacher. He succeeds all too well and faces a dilemma when it’s time to reveal the fraud.
Essentially Gandhi’s point is that spiritual gurus are frauds and anyone can be a guru if he can (so long as they are prepared to dress up, grow long beards, make up strange chants, etc.). With that in mind, I found a course on how to start your own religion, offered by 3rd Ward. I’m not sure if I’ll take it yet, but they do say the fastest way to make a million dollars is to become a millionaire…
Is Competitive Laughter Becoming A New Craze?
The documentary Laughology is helping set off a new fad with the discovery that competitive laughter can be entertaining.
The film makes the case that laughter itself is the primary motivator of laughter, so jokes aren’t necessary for people to have a good time. After a laughing contest in Montreal where the audience was in stitches, a competition made headlines in Tokyo. This Saturday a laughter contest hits America in the form of the California Ultimate Laughing Championship. Linda Massarella reports for the Toronto Sun:
So there was this American state called California with one of the highest unemployment rates on the continent and citizens fretting about losing their homes to foreclosure … when in walks this Canadian guy.
Yes, it’s Toronto documentary filmmaker Albert Nerenberg to the rescue of the depressed and anxious around here [San Luis Obispo, CA] next Saturday when he brings his movie, Laughology, to a film festival just north…
Bigfoot Sues State
From the “You can’t make this stuff up” department, via AP/Seacoastonline:
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — First there was a Bigfoot sighting. Now, there’s a Bigfoot suing.
A performance artist and amateur filmmaker who dressed as the mythical beast says New Hampshire park rangers didn’t have the right to kick him off a mountain where he had been scaring, or at least amusing, hikers while friends videotaped his antics.
Backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Jonathan Doyle is suing the state…
Clark: A Gonzomentary
In the spirit of mockumentaries like Spinal Tap, Hunter S Thompson’s Gonzo style, and the art world in general, Clark is an indie web series that has been ravaging the minds of viewers for months now. To make things more confusing, the actors are going on camera presenting their method as heavily based on occultism and gnosticism. It’s not clear where the line between fiction and reality is, but it seems a fun ride for the hale at heart.
Interview with Brett Smith, Creator of 9/11 Movie ‘Hypothesis’
Brett Smith. Photo: Brett Smith
This is an exclusive Media Roots Radio interview with Utah based documentarian Brett Smith, conducted by Abby and Robbie Martin on February 23, 2011. In 2006, Brett’s love of films drew him into taking a film class where he was required to make a 15 minute short. That 15 minute short later turned into 40 minute documentary called Hypothesis.
Hypothesis is a documentary that follows physics professor Steven E. Jones during a pivotal time in his life. In 2005, Jones went public with a theory about 9/11 that was so controversial, it resulted in everything from hate mail, threats, and even bribery to try to end his research. Despite the outside pressures, Jones vowed to never give up on his pursuit of the truth.
Interview with Filmmaker Brett Smith, Creator of Hypothesis by Media Roots
The above timeline is interactive. Scroll through it to find out more about the show’s music…
‘The Cove’ Sent To Every Household In Japanese Fishing Village
MNN reports:
This time last year, producers of the “The Cove” were riding high after winning Best Documentary at the 2010 Academy Awards.
Directed by Louie Psihoyos and produced by Fisher Stevens and Paula DuPre Pesmen, the film shed dramatic light on the thousands of dolphins slaughtered each year in the Japanese fishing town of Taiji. “It has the breathless pace of a Bourne movie, but none of the comfort of fiction. This is documentary filmmaking at its most exciting and purposeful,” wrote Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers in a review.
This past weekend, residents of Taiji were able to give their own verdicts after a local activist group, called People Concerned for the Ocean, delivered a Japanese-dubbed copy of the film to each home…
