Our last 'formal' class is tomorrow, as we go into the TerrorDome (2 men in, 1 man out..), but we have a room change to accommodate Honors Thesis presentations in the Joukowsky Forum. We will be two flights up, in Watson's McKinney Seminar room...
VTY
JDD
Greetings all:
First order of biz is the screening of EM's TPQ (using code to maintain operational secrecy): next monday, biomed, room 202, 5.30). That Wednesday we will stage with EM the final OpenSource, with Lydon as MC.
Second: 'Where in the World is OBL'? is showing at our very own Avon. Who would be game for a big-screening, this Tuesday (ie, tomorrow) of one of our favorite filmmakers? Let me add an incentive: a free screening. I have some loose discretionary change to host students for a social event - I think the powers that oversee had a tea party in mind - so anyone interested should meet up, say 8.30, Paragon/Viva, for 9.15 showing? Tea will be on tap.
Finally, we're getting booted out of the J-forum so the honors thesis students can do their IR thing, so we will be moving up two floors to the mckinney seminar room...and if people want to hear one or more of the presentations we can perhaps negotiate that (especially since I have three presenting this year).
VTY
JDD
updated: 4/21/08 at 2:30pm
greetings all,
this is what I have for final projects. please feel free to amend (via email or comments here, I'll post updates) and if you haven't chosen something yet, please do so. I know a couple of people are still in the midst of deciding, so if you don't see your name here, that would be why... thanks guys! ck
Meaghan Casey - Culture of War/JDD
Alejandra Piers-Torres - Terrorist media/JPS
Sarah Kay - Terrorist media/JPS
Albert Huber - Terrorist media/JPS
Michael Schub - Terrorist media/JPS
Julia Stern - Terrorist media/JPS
Kathleen Fleming - Terrorist media/JPS
Megan Goetsch - Terrorist media/JPS
Veronica Cortez - Terrorist media/JPS
Kristian Walther - Culture of War/JDD
Josh Sargent - Culture of War/JDD
Amy Tan - Culture of War/JDD
Emma Clippinger - Independent Project
Maria Mahler-Haug - Independent Project
Alan Johnson - Cyborgs, Rhizomes, oh my!/Phil
Rosalinda Pascual - Independent Project
Marielle Segarra - Culture of War/JDD
Anne Krapu - Independent Project
Joe Braidwood - Independent Project
Ben Mishkin - Terrorist media/JPS
Julia Hellman - Culture of War/JDD
Willem Van Lancker - Independent Project
I hope everyone took advantage of the spring break to think about their final projects. Today after the class break we'll have a brief discussion about the options, but as a sneak preview, for those pursuing the trailer treatment option, here are some, but by no means the only, offerings:
*Revolution in Military Affairs - using on-the-road footage from Virtuous War, with JDD
*Synthetic biology — designing of artificial life systems through hypermeda, with Phil Gara
*Terror Media - the history of terrorist use of media, with John Santos
There is also the possibility of working with Koji on political film, Rob Jensen on gendercide, and Chris Lydon on opensource convergences, but these options would require further development/negotation with them. Let's discuss. And come 'armed' with questions today for our military guests....
VTY
JDD
Hello everyone
We have received confirmation that Jay Rosen (see bio below) will be one of our two guests (the other being Chris Lydon) for the Global Media Lab on TV and Radio (March 19). Please be sure to read the following links provided by Jay Rosen before then:
News Turns from a Lecture to a Conversation
http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2004/12/29/tp04_lctr.html
Bloggers vs. Journalists is Over:
http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2005/01/21/berk_essy.html
The People Formerly Known as the Audience:
http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/06/27/ppl_frmr.html
My Coordinates for a Successful News Site
http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2007/10/18/site_coordinates.html
My bio:
http://www.poynter.org/profile/profile.asp?user=102644
In the final scene of a film I started watching on Norway TV (I blame the the jet-lag), which features suicide bombers, suitcase nukes, an attack on NYC, a fitness-obsessed prez, an all-powerful 'world television network', and arab oil - all in 1982. The film is pure schlock, but dead-on and prescient in its analysis of the media as accelerant of war and terror. It is worth watching right to the end, when the US uses a terrorist attack on the homeland as an excuse to invade an oil-producing country, and Sean Connery, as the media super-hack, prepares to parachute in with the military (premature embeddedness), he gives the memorable line of 'if it doesn't happen on TV it doesn't happen' (or something like that), simultaneously tearing off his very bad rug. The other reason to watch the credits is for the amazing cast of great B-grade comedic actors (Leslie Nelson, Dean Stockwell, and ...Rosalind Cash, go figure) and the novel credit, 'The Better Angels', by Charles Mcgarthy, who was ex-CIA and wrote some of the best post-watergate, paranoid spy thrillers - and who was, I believe, the first novelist to feature the suicide bomber. Let's see if we can netflix or get this up on mycourse, for some more serious exegesis.
VTY
JDD
I offer you a study of contrasts(and synchronicities), to begin a discussion on the sociology, political economy, and semiotics of the documentary award, beginning with this year's Global Media Lab in which Gary Hustwit made the case for staying indie (let's hope it's captured in the videoblog), juxtaposed to last year's GML with Eugene Jarecki and Alex Gibney making the case for selling your doc to the majors (see February 2007 archive); then watching last week (online, not primetime) the Spirit Award for the 'Truer than Fiction' category which went to 'The Unforeseen' rather than nominee 'Helvetica' (damn); followed this week by the Oscar for Best Documentary going to Gibney's 'Taxi to the Dark Side' (huzzah). My question(s): Why do we have such contests? How do we judge the success of a documentary? What should we make of the fact that Jarecki won the same Spirit award (Truer than Fiction) in 2003 for 'Trials of Henry Kissinger'? Why is the Spirit Award female (winged victory) and the Academy Award male (Oscar). Share your thoughts (and bonus point for anybody who identifies which Spirit Award honoree titled her presentation about studio business practices as"The Scum-Sucking Vampire Pig Theory of Hollywood"?
VTY
JDD
For all those who missed the screening of “Three Days of the Condor,” the film is now up on mycourses. In addition, just a reminder that the film that must be watched for next week’s discussion with Peter Almond is “Thirteen Days,” and it is also up on mycourses.
Happy watching!
greetings all,
while we're waiting for the virtual/mycourses status on '3 Days of the Condor', note that we will be having a screening Tuesday at 7pm in the media space at Watson.
Note: no screening of 'Helvetica' tonight as it is available on mycourses.
And, for tomorrow: guest speaker is Gary Hustwit. see you all then!
Aside from “After 911” and “VY2K,” we now have “300,” “Wag the Dog,” and “Helvetica” on our mycourses page. Once more, if you ever miss screenings, you can watch the documentaries on your own computers after downloading Brown’s VPN software, or watch them on Brown’s library computers.
Please be reminded that “Helvetica” will be the subject of our next Global Media class on Feb. 20.
Have a great weekend!
same screening, same location, new time!: 8pm.
**note: the Watson Institute "locks down" at 7pm (i.e. you would need card access to get into the building). I will be there to let people in at the side door right next to the media space, so if you knock on the window to the room, someone should be there to let you in.
greetings all--
next week's screening (Tuesday, 7pm) will be Wag the Dog and will again be in the Watson media space. I know there will be FCP tutorials going on at that time, so do plan accordingly... again, we will try to find an alternate screening time if you are unable to make that particular screening.
(plus extra points to anyone who can write a propagandistic jingle for Albania.)
In the hyping of Super Tuesday, you might have missed one of the best satires (allegories?) of the transformation of the Presidential Race into an episode of the Three Stooges, featuring the late-night trio Stewart, Colbert, and O'Connor, with a cameo by Huck. Mockumentaries don't get much better:
http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/video/index.shtml#mea=213670
VTY
JDD
...a tile which aptly captures our current era and one among several rationales for the global media seminar, but which also references the phenomenal essay by the jack-booted philosopher Maritin Heidegger, from which we find good reason to reframe tomorrow's session. Heidegger's point, amply simplified, was that the 'death' of all-knowing/seeing god(s) and the rise of new global technologies and aesthetics make it possible, indeed necessary, to enframe our worldview with a radically new perspective: easier said than done, as born out by the armies of 'international experts' who have projected their own parochial concerns as global interests. But last Sunday's New York Times Magazine cover story, 'Who Shrank the Superpower', by newbie Parag Khanna seems to get the world picture righter than most. You will get to be the judge, thanks to the tireless efforts of Global Media (hale) Fellow Chris Lydon, with whom I will tag-team for a class-to-studio interview with Khanna. So here's the plan: Udris Productions presents the how-to in the first part of the class, and asks for volunteers to document the event for a hands-on in the second part: praxis and theory all bundled up . So read up (url of article is below) and come prepared for questions in class and for the blog thereafter.
Or as Martin put it: 'Reflection is the courage to make the truth of our own presuppositions and the realm of our own goals into the things that most deserve to be called into question...[when] the gods have fled the resultant void is compensated for by means of historiographical and psychological investigation of myth.'
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JDD
Here's the url for the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/magazine/27world-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=parag+khanna&st=nyt&oref=slogin
Update (2:39pm/Tues): We will only be screening After 9/11 this afternoon.
Unless you hear otherwise, tomorrow's screening for VY2K and After 9/11 will be in the media space at Watson (first floor, north-west corner of the building). The screening will start at 3:30. Since there are two films, please try and come for at least one. I'm not sure what the status on loaning out VY2K is, given that there is only one copy and, last I checked, it's in VHS form. For those of you unable to make the screening, please let us know via blog comments and we'll try and make the film(s) available to you.
greetings everyone--
just a couple of things to take care of (preferably) asap:
a) if you have not sent me your Banner ID number, please do so by the end of this weekend so that we can get you the required course overrides.
b) if you have not yet registered for this blog, please do so asap by going to watsonblogs.org/signup/class and follow the instructions there.
c) courtesy of Phil Gara, we will be offering two fantastic nights of Final-Cut Pro tutorials. these are not required, but are highly recommended... particularly if you plan on doing any videoblogging, etc. the dates for those are: Thurs. Feb 7 after 6pm and Tues. Feb 12 after 6:30pm. each session should last around an hour. we will update as we learn of final locations and other details. but any questions about the FCP labs should be directed to phil at (phillip_gara@brown.edu)
d) if you still have to complete the entry assignment, copies of the Roland Barthes essay are sitting in office 205 at the Watson Institute (111 Thayer)
e) screenings: it seemed like a lot of people are unable to make the proposed Tues. 3:30-5:30 screening time. while we will hopefully have most (if not all) of the films available online for you (more updates on that in the future), we'd also like to have group screenings. I know classes run until 3:50 on Tuesdays--would a 4pm start time make it easier for people to attend? in the comments below, please let us know what times work for you.
and
f) if you'd like to receive a kind of "digest" for the blog, please sign up on the right side of the screen under "Notify Me." it will send you a fairly regular email containing all of the latest blog posts. again, however, we encourage all of you to check the blog frequently for updates, changes and reminders.
thanks and have a great weekend,
ck
To add exemplary insult to definitional injury, check out the first hit on google for 'definition of abstruse'....Barthes would have a field day with that one (as well some of you might).
VTY
JDD
For those who did (or did not) make it to the first class, a 'Prof Note' (with special commendation for the first person who derives the etymology of the double entendre): the 'entry exam' (aka, first hurdle) is due on Monday (now extended from noon to 5 pm). For those who did not receive a copy of the abstruse French article (Roland Barthes on 'Writers, Intellectuals, Teachers'), copies can be found in the Global Security office, Watson, 205. We're asking everyone to read the article,with particular focus on the limited choices facing the teacher ('conscientous functionary or free artist') in the theater of classroom speech ('language is always on the side of power....in the space of speech, no innocence, no safety'); and after providing a para about who you are (or might wish to be) and why you wish to be (or should be) in the class, register (watsonblogs.org/signup/class), and post on the blog (under the category of 'entry exam' to be found on right side of blog). We want to know your take on the tricky relationships of speech to writing, teacher to student, pedagogy to research, and the untimely, meaningless (what does that mean?), and hopelessly over-mediated death of Heath Ledger. To honor the ethos of shopping classes, we will keep a minimum of five slots open for those who were not able to come to the first class, but make it to the second. So...if you can navigate all that, you're probably in like Flint.
VTY
JDD (and JPS)
on linklater. BUT not to be missed, and truly happening: Steve Walt from Harvard and John Ikenberry from Princeton, two leading U.S. foreign policy experts, are coming to Watson, next Tuesday May 8, 4 pm ,Joukowsky. It will be moderated by Chris Lydon and broadcast on Radio Open Source, so come with provocative questions for what will be a unique event.
VTY
JDD
Global Media Project participants have a chance this week to see films by director Milcho Manchevski, and also attend a conversation between Manchevski and Visiting Fellow Deborah Scranton.
Manchevski, a professor in NYU’s film program, directed the genre-defying Dust (2001)—in his terms, a “Balkan Western” which screens Wednesday April 18th in the Joukowsky Forum at 6.30 pm, His first feature film, Before the Rain (1994) won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival and an Oscar nomination for best foreign film, and screens on Thursday April 19 at 6.30 pm in Smith Buonanno 101.
Manchevski shot his third feature film, Shadows, last year, and is finishing production. He will be on campus Friday, when Deborah Scranton (who describes the structure of The War Tapes as a homage to Before the Rain) and he will talk about film-making, the role of art in society, and violence in a conversation in the Joukowsky Forum on Friday April 20th, 2007, starting at 6pm (NOTE EARLIER TIME)
The films and conversation are also linked to a conference on “Balkan Literatures of Dissent,” with paper presentations on Friday April 20th.
More details at www.brown.edu/Departments/Modern_Greek_Studies
*** Please note that the conference organizers are looking for a student who'd be willing to videotape the event using the robotics in Joukowsky. If you are interested, please contact Keith_Brown@brown.edu or Ellen_Darling@brown.edu.
Greetings all:
First, kudos to one of our own, Eugene J, on the high honor of receiving a Peabody Award for 'Why We Fight'. Check it out at: http://www.watsoninstitute.org/news_detail.cfm?id=607.
Second, another of our own (Brown alum), Rachel Boynton, will be coming this week to discuss her doc, 'Our Brand is Crisis'. Regular times apply: Tuesday 4 pm screening, Wednesday class discussion with the filmmaker. Bonus points for whoever finds and blogs her 1994-5 IR honors thesis, “Conflict in the Sand: Roots of the Tuareg Uprising in the Republic of Mali” (Neil Lazarus and Anani Dzidzienyo).
Third, if you're interested in Human Rights and Media, hot conference in Cambridge this Saturday, April 21, featuring one of our own....see http://humanrightsandmedia.com/schedule.html
VTY
JDD
Some pitch packet logistics: after some juggling it looks like 12.15 this Wednesday is the best time for Project Z to meet, which will include a quick tutorial with Claire on thumbnails of clips for the pitch reel. Telling Terror Tales PP's can join in on the tutorial, in the Jarecki-Santos suite on the second floor of Watson.
VTY
JDD
Of Grin W/out Cat, not to be missed, J'sky Forum, 4 pm.
Tomorrow in class, 2 special guests (logistics permitting) plus rare screening of incriminating clips from the cult classic, 'late city' (made when it was late in the day, late in the month, late in the century....).
VTY
JDD
Be prepared (ie, wear warm clothes, bring recording technologies, bone up on your Herodotus), for a psycho-geographic drift in and out of class today to honor our society of the spectacle.....
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JDD
Greetings all:
Apologies all for the radio silence, but just got back from Bennington College where hosts and students were particularly....attentive, leaving no time to check in. But here's the skinny: Santos is still on his haj, which means no Grin, no Cat this Tuesday screening, will see when/if he wants to show upon return...hi-theory and some situationist drifting on Wednesday. Week after break a very special double-bill: Tom Levin, ace media theorist, curator extraordinaire, and Sandra Kogut, Brazilian/Hungarian experimental filmmaker. See schedule below. I'm still up for group viewing of the 300, but Amsterdam-calling means it might have to wait until after the break...rumors of IMAX opportunity as well....
Wednesday, April 4
7:30pm – 9:00pm
“Anxious Cinema: Surveillance as Narrative Form”
Lecture by Thomas Levin
Joukowsky Forum, Watson Institute
Thursday, April 5
7:30pm-9:00pm
Screening of “The Hungarian Passport”
Post-screening discussion led by Sandra Kogut
MacMillan Hall, Starr Auditorium, Room 117
VTY
JDD
Just saw that JDD already emailed about the screenings-- please note that tomorrow's screening is at 11 am though-- in order to accomodate more of you.
Thanks, Ellen
Just a reminder that today's screening at 4pm will be in Joukowsky and there'll be a repeat screening at 11am tomorrow in the Media Space.
Greetings all:
Just a reminder that we will be screening epsiodes from Morgon Spurlock's '30 Days', at 4 pm in Joukowsky. We'll do back-up screening in the MediaSpace at noon tomorrow. Descriptions and bios for the GlobalMediaLab are below.
And, I want you to be prepared to consider, after 'the 300' broke box office records this weekend: what is the power of the critic?
VTY
JDD
30 DAYS
30 Days, a six-part FX original series, places an individual in a living environment that is antithetical to their upbringing, beliefs, religion, or profession in an effort to examine real societal differences that Americans face everyday.
Morgan Spurlock hosts and narrates the entire series, each episode touching on some of the most talked about issues today. In addition to hosting, Morgan is once again the subject of one of the episodes. In this season's finale, Morgan is sent to the Big House at the Henrico County Jail. In a first hand examination of the prison and rehabilitation system in America, Morgan is sentenced to Jail for 30 Days. Treated like any other inmate, he spent 72 hours in solitary confinement, worked 15-hour shifts in the jail’s kitchen and bunked on the floor with 5 other inmates. As Morgan starts serving his sentence he realizes it's not just the external d anger, “Getting locked up for 30 Days was a scary proposition, but once I got behind the overcrowded bars I saw that it was the monotony that could kill me,” said Spurlock.
Each episode this season is just as eye-opening, dealing with topics in an in-depth way that we often don't find in today's discourse. The series dives into each issue without any predisposition or bias and allows the audience to really walk a mile in someone else's shoes. This season will deal with Immigration, Outsourcing, Atheist/ Christian, New Age, Pro-choice/ Pro-life, and Jail.
MORGAN SPURLOCK - http://www.warrior-poets.com/
American independent documentary film director, TV producer, and screenwriter, known for the documentary film Super Size Me, in which he attempted to demonstrate the negative health effects of McDonald's food by eating nothing but McDonalds three times a day, every day, for one month. Spurlock is also the executive producer and star of the reality television series 30 Days.
Spurlock graduated with a BFA in film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1993.
Before making Super Size Me, Spurlock was a playwright, winning awards for his play The Phoenix at both the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999 and the Route 66 American Playwriting Competition in 2000. He also created I Bet You Will for MTV.
MIKE TREDER
Executive Director of CRN, is a professional writer, speaker, and activist with a background in technology and communications company management. He attended the University of Washington in Seattle, majoring in Biology. Mike's career in the private sector included stints as manager of radio stations in major markets, and with a large telecommunications firm in New Jersey. In addition to his work with CRN, Mike is a Research Fellow with the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, a consultant to the Millennium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University and to the Future Technologies Advisory Group, serves on the Nanotech Briefs Editorial Advisory Board, is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and a member of the World Future Society. He has published more than 20 articles and papers, and has been interviewed numerous times by the media. As an accomplished presenter on the societal implications of emerging technologies, Mike has addressed conferences and groups in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, and Brazil.
The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology is a non-profit research and advocacy think tank concerned with the major societal and environmental implications of advanced nanotechnology. We are a modern, networked, virtual organization -- with no "brick and mortar" -- a collection of more than 100 volunteers, over 1000 interested followers, and a small team of primary coordinators.
CRN engages individuals and groups to better understand the implications of molecular manufacturing and to focus on the real risks and benefits of the technology. Our goal is the creation and implementation of wise, comprehensive, and balanced plans for responsible worldwide use of this transformative technology.
It dawned on me (like Dawn of the Dead) that we might be getting too dark (like The Dark Knight) in our choice of flics, and thought we should consider seeing something more....classical. If sufficient numbers figure out the (parenthetical) clues, I'd say a trip to the mall for a matinee is justified.
VTY
JDD
I thought that might get your attention...
Eugene will be here next week, after screening Why We Fight to over 500 cadets at West Point (we want to hear how that went down...), and he can stick around after class to discuss pitch packets. Be sure to email your ranking prefs pronto so I can post.
VTY
JDD
For some very special guests (see below) for the next GlobalMediaLab; and coming soon, new additions to the blog - a 'Techne' section to exchange needed technical info that Joe and Phil will host; and a GlobalMediaLab section to organize the pitch reels (more on that soon from Eugene).
See you all tomorrow, to hear from Patricia Owens and enter the Matrix for the first hour, then get into spies, terror, and speed the second.
VTY
JDD
Our filmmaker and thinker for next Wednesday are Morgan Spurlock and
Mike Treder, a Nano expert. Their bios are below.
MORGAN SPURLOCK
American independent documentary film director, TV producer, and
screenwriter, known for the documentary film Super Size Me, in which he
attempted to demonstrate the negative health effects of McDonald's food
by eating nothing but McDonalds three times a day, every day, for one
month. Spurlock is also the executive producer and star of the reality
television series 30 Days.
Spurlock graduated with a BFA in film from New York University's Tisch
School of the Arts in 1993.
Before making Super Size Me, Spurlock was a playwright, winning awards
for his play The Phoenix at both the New York International Fringe
Festival in 1999 and the Route 66 American Playwriting Competition in
2000. He also created I Bet You Will for MTV.
MIKE TREDER
Executive Director of CRN, is a professional writer, speaker, and
activist with a background in technology and communications company
management. He attended the University of Washington in Seattle,
majoring in Biology. Mike's career in the private sector included
stints as manager of radio stations in major markets, and with a large
telecommunications firm in New Jersey. In addition to his work with
CRN, Mike is a Research Fellow with the Institute for Ethics and
Emerging Technologies, a consultant to the Millennium Project of the
American Council for the United Nations University and to the Future
Technologies Advisory Group, serves on the Nanotech Briefs Editorial
Advisory Board, is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and a
member of the World Future Society. He has published more than 20
articles and papers, and has been interviewed numerous times by the
media. As an accomplished presenter on the societal implications of
emerging technologies, Mike has addressed conferences and groups in the
United States, Canada, Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy,
Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, and Brazil.
The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology is a non-profit research and
advocacy think tank concerned with the major societal and environmental
implications of advanced nanotechnology. We are a modern, networked,
virtual organization -- with no "brick and mortar" -- a collection of
more than 100 volunteers, over 1000 interested followers, and a small
team of primary coordinators.
CRN engages individuals and groups to better understand the implications
of molecular manufacturing and to focus on the real risks and benefits
of the technology. Our goal is the creation and implementation of wise,
comprehensive, and balanced plans for responsible worldwide use of this
transformative technology.
Time to get back into the IR side of things, and as our guide, we will have Patricia Owens from Oxford University presenting 2x this week: Tuesday, 4-6, Joukowsky, for the Hannah Arendt lecture series (instead of film screening); and in class, Joukowsky at 3 pm, "The Problem with Security: Life is Not the Highest Good."
Be prepared to enter globalsecuritymatrix.org (red pill or blue pill?).
VTY
JDD
When multiple media get densely networked, good things are supposed to happen, right? Not so, says Paul Virilio, whose warning of the 'integral accident' had a scary sneak preview yesterday when heavy trading on Wall Street caused a computer glitch and Dow Jones Inc. switched over to the back-up system. For what happened next, check out the local news (they are the harbingers...):
http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S33513.shtml?cat=1
Thanks to Solon Barocas - x-brown - for picking up this one.
VTY
JDD
For those of you unable to make today's screening at 4, it will be shown again tomorrow at 11 am in the Media Room at Watson.
Screening on Tuesday will be in the Media Room at Watson, 4pm.
"The Devil Came on Horseback"
We have invited Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg. They are the directors and writers of the documentary "The Devil Came On Horseback"
http://www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com/
http://festival.sundance.org/filmguide/popup.aspx?film=7539
The Devil Came on Horseback explains how Brian Steidle left the marines to look for a job and found a calling. As an observer for the African Union in the Sudan, Steilde spent six months watching as a nation consumed itself -- as the Sudanese Arab-controlled government enacted systematic genocide against its black African citizens in Dafur. It's not that the government simply stood by as local militias, the Janjaweed, enacted murder, torture and rape against the local black villages and tribes -- the government was actively engaged in aiding and abetting the Janjaweed atrocities as a tool of policy. Steidle was used to action, to being part of forces working for the common good, but all he could do was watch and take pictures and document what happened after murder and mutilation cut across the land like a bitter burning wind, leaving ashes and ruined lives in their wake.
Journalists couldn't get access to the parts of the Sudan where Steidle was posted, but eventually -- driven by equal parts heartfelt outrage and horrified impotence -- he leaked his own pictures to the press in the hopes that the American people and government might be moved to action. Directed by Annie Sunderberg and Ricki Stern, The Devil Came on Horseback tells audiences what has happened in the Sudan through Steidle's own journey; it also shows us Steidle's journey from being just an observer to being an activist. The film incorporates Steidle's own photos and video footage, as well as follows him after his posting is over and he is testifiying before Congress. He briefs Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on the Sudan. He watches. He waits. Nothing happens.
Something should happen, to be sure; Steidle's photos depict bodies burnt and blackened, corpses stacked like cordwood, rape victims explaining how after their violation, their families abandoned them due to shame. That's exactly what their violators want, of course: to shatter and disperse whole communities, disrupt families, re-make a nation out of murder and crime. The images and testimony in The Devil Came on Horseback are heartbreaking and overwhelming, as they should be. If there's one thing that makes the film even slightly endurable, it's the intrinsic decency and dignity Steidle displays, traveling the country to bear witness, to share his photos, to explain what is happening. Steidle is, essentially, the epitome of what is good about America -- principled, ready to commit to action, eager to support human rights and human decency -- and at every turn, his hope that his personal ideas might be reflected in a political response is doomed, dashed, disregarded.
The UN would like to place peacekeepers in the Sudan, but the Sudanese government won't allow it. With the backing of the United States, the UN might be able to override the Sudanese objections, but, as is public knowledge and public policy, the U.S. doesn't exactly support the UN's missions and goals these days. The Devil Came on Horseback is a dual nightmare -- not just the nightmare of a successfully enacted genocide, but also the nightmare of a completely failed response. Over 450,000 people have been killed in the Sudan; over 2.5 million people have been displaced from their homes by killing, terror and fire. Steidle is taking a long view -- at one point, he explains to a questioner that "There are 35 active Al-Qaeda training camps in the Sudan" -- but he's also as passionate as he is pragmatic, as haunted as he is hopeful. "I stood there for six months and watched people die, and I took pictures of them."
I know this review has focused more on Steidle, his character, his mission and the facts of the Sudan crisis than on the film itself -- primarily because the film itself simply 'presents' Steidle and his character and mission and the facts. The aesthetic arguments against the film I heard in the post-movie chatter of the exit lobby -- it's too long, it's depressing, some of the structure was off -- must, and do, take a backseat to the moral argument presented in it. It's not enough to simply say "never again" to genocide when it is happening over and over and over right now. The Devil Came on Horseback hurts the heart and stirs the soul, because even as I write this, even as you read this, even while this film is perhaps finding its way to a distributor and wending its way slowly to theaters, the killing in the Sudan will go on, and on, and on until someone in power decides that it must stop or until there is no one left to kill.
Alex Gibney, director of Enron and a new documentary on torture, makes the case to Eugene Jarecki and John Phillip Santos for characterological (rather than essayistic) filmmaking...
Greetings:
Deborah Scranton's doc, 'The War Tapes' will be screened this coming Tuesday 4-6 Joukowsky and Wednesday 12-2 MediaSpace. The director will discuss the film and her next project in class on Wednesday. Further info can be found at:
http://www.watsoninstitute.org/events_detail.cfm?id=881
And there is no better time than now to blog the virtues of 'essayistic' vs. ' characterological' documentary-making. John Santos will respond.
VTY
JDD
Greetings all:
I've gone through our jam-packed schedule and next Tuesday does look like the only open slot to screen Deborah Scranton's War Tapes and to have her present on 'viritually embedded' filmmaking. If we also lay on an optional viewing time on Wednesday the next day 11-1 in the Media Space, is there anyone who will not be able to see it? Let me know, pronto.
VTY
JDD
Greetings all:
Yesterday's perfect ice storm threw a bit of a wrench into our planned program, but I'm very glad Alex Gibney was able to make it and that John Santos was willing to take the hot seat on short notice. I'd like us to continue the conversation that we had to cut short last night by posing a question that seemed to resurface in a variety of modes: How do we best represent the 'truth' in media? And does the documentary form finesse this question in ways that other media forms (e.g., the newspaper article, the radio show, or the academic monograph) cannot, would not, should not? Blog away.
And an organizational note: running over also meant that we did not get to benefit from the Joe and Phil Vblog-show, so I am going dedicate at least a half hour of next week's class to this, most likely the latter part, depending on their schedules.
VTY
JDD
Hey all,
JDD wants to remind you of the following:
1) Screening tonight from 4-6 pm in Joukowsky of 'Taxi into the Dark Side'
2) Repeat showing tomorrow from 11- 1pm in the media space.
3) WATCH Frontline's "News Wars" doc tonight if you can. (On your local pbs station.)
Having survived classical theories of IR, class assignations, and rocks, paper, and 1-between-10, we're ready to roll. The assignments should be up on the blog by Monday, so check it out to be sure you got your slot (and if you need to get another one). Trading is not prohibited, so long as the rules about spreading the assignments topically and functionally are observed.
We're trying to set up a couple of tutorial times for final cut pro and basic camera with Phil and Joe - more on that next week.
VTY
JDD
(and it seems that there was some method to the some aspects of the madness: Weber was swapped for Burchill et al because it was not in stock - I'm looking around for some extra copies.
Having survived classical theories and concepts of IR, class assignations, and rocks, paper and 1-between-10, we're ready to roll. The assignments should be up on the blog by Monday, so check it out to be sure you got your slot (and if you need to get another one). And for those who asked: Trading is not prohibited, so long as the rules about spreading the assignments topically and functionally are observed.
We're trying to set up a couple of tutorial times for final cut pro and basic camera with Phil and Joe - more on that next week.
VTY
JDD
(and it seems that there was some method to the some aspects of the madness: Weber was swapped for Burchill et al because it was not in stock - I'm looking around for some extra copies.
greetings all:
Thanks to Dalislo for pointing out that the Haitian Revolution has pre-empted our Tuesday film slot today, so tonight we will be meeting in our alternative room, the Media Space for viewing purposes, 4-6.
And there seemed to be some confusion about the books: my point is that the 20 ordered have been snapped up, and since I have opened the class to some sophomores, they are most likely going to be looking at amazon.com, etc for extra copies. They have also been placed on reserve.
VTY
JDD
Or off the bus. The 00's equivalent to this fetching 60's binary in which neutrality went unrecognized would be........what?
Finding it difficult to cull a class list from the excellent entry exams , we (Jarecki and Santos in spirit) have decided to allow all in who submitted an entry assignment - with two caveats and one requirement: if you a sophomore (there are two survivors I believe) this is going to be a tough course and will require some extra reading and effort; we ordered books for 20, class size is now 31, so amazon.com etc will be needed to acquire the rest (we will also be putting copies on reserve); and the requirement is that you post an answer to the question above as a comment to this entry (this will tell us who is registered on the blog - and is actively participating).
I will be in my office this afternoon and tomorrow to sign the requisite forms.
Screening in Joukowsky tomorrow 4-6 will be of two proto-GMP efforts: VirtuallyY2K and After 911. See you there.
Onward,
JDD et al
....this Wednesday for the first of our GlobalMediaLabs. Guest speaker/critic will be Nick Fraser, Exec.Producer of BBC's permier documentary series, Storyville. On the chopping block will be ....me, and our proto-doc 'The Culture of War', produced in collaboration with the Udris bros. Background can be found at the MIlitary Cultural Awareness website ( http://watsoninstitute.org/project_detail.cfm?id=71); and some interesting (if troubling) real-world application of critical theory and anthropology to warfighting can be found at:
http://www.frieze.com/feature_single.asp?f=1165.
Stay tuned for more info and sources. And if you wnat to be in the class, be sure to complete the assignment by