June 05, 2009
More Connections
Besides being in my old neighborhood I’ve really been enjoying these videos by Open Book TV, as I mentioned yesterday, for their focus on storytelling and how well they’re produced. More cross-connections: For the last few years I’ve had these clients with whom I’ve also become friends and have worked with on various projects. The latest is “The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court” which you’ll be able to see next month on PBS and currently at various film festivals (these guys are Academy Award winning documentary filmmakers and their films are seen by people in every corner of the world).
So today I noticed that Pam, Skylight’s director, was interviewed in The Brooklyn Rail, which I think is great because I know that BR has a great audience of smart culturally aware people who might not necessarily be thinking about the International Criminal Court. To my mind, one of the best ways to raise awareness of issues – and the ICC needs greater awareness here so that the United States will join – is to find connections in people’s minds where they’re least expected. “The Reckoning” takes place in various war crimes hotspots around the world where the ICC is trying to make an impact. One of the things I like about the film is watching people at the ICC who are up against incredible odds and how they ultimately never forget that it’s about the victims, including child soldiers. So here’s a video from Open Book with Ishmael Beah, who was a child soldier in Sierra Leone and wrote A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier:
Open Book TV: Ishmael Beah from Open Book TV on Vimeo.
I should add that part of this video takes place in Madiba, one of my favorite restaurants in all of NYC.
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Recent Comments
Sorry to leave a comment on an old post, Bud, but I’m getting ready to buy the Shorter OED and wanted to thank you for bringing it to my attention.
– Maud
on “The Literary iPhone”
Fantastic and terrifying.
– Anne Fernald
on “Creepy”
It’s exciting to watch how literature is beginning to utilize more diverse mediums– the videos, the internet, hyper-texting etc. But probably what’s most exciting, and will end up being the main contribution to literature, is when e-books become the norm and all of these resources can be incorporated into the actual book, as opposed to the book being one thing and what goes on in the internet another. It will all be rolled into the actual ‘text’. Very exciting.
– brian
on “Creepy”
I love Ish (not least for his continued advocacy for children of war around the world) and Open Book TV. And of course Madiba is always great. I think I could have done with fewer mystical echoing flutes-of-sadness though.
About the ICC: such an important struggle, and so anathema to the idea of American Exceptionalism we are all raised on. That, along with the debate over humanitarian intervention, look to be the defining international issues of our time exactly because they cannot be reduced to simple dichotomies, or even unambiguous moral stances. By which I mean to say I’m looking forward to the film.
– Dustin (06/06 12:54 PM)