John Pilger

I came know about John Pilger only last year. He is an inspiring news reporter and documentary film maker. After watching many of his documentaries, i feel that his films should be included in the media cariculum. In an interview when he was aked "what is wrong with journalism today?" his reply was very interesting

John Pilger: Many journalists now are no more than channelers and echoers of what Orwell called the official truth. They simply cipher and transmit lies. It really grieves me that so many of my fellow journalists can be so manipulated that they become really what the French describe as functionaires, functionaries, not journalists.Many journalists become very defensive when you suggest to them that they are anything but impartial and objective. The problem with those words "impartiality" and "objectivity" is that they have lost their dictionary meaning. They've been taken over. "Impartiality" and "objectivity" now mean the establishment point of view. Whenever a journalist says to me, "Oh, you don't understand, I'm impartial, I'm objective," I know what he's saying. I can decode it immediately. It means he channels the official truth. Almost always. That protestation means he speaks for a consensual view of the establishment. This is internalized. Journalists don't sit down and think, "I'm now going to speak for the establishment." Of course not. But they internalize a whole set of assumptions, and one of the most potent assumptions is that the world should be seen in terms of its usefulness to the West, not humanity. This leads journalists to make a distinction between people who matter and people who don't matter. The people who died in the Twin Towers in that terrible crime mattered. The people who were bombed to death in dusty villages in Afghanistan didn't matter, even though it now seems that their numbers were greater. The people who will die in Iraq don't matter. Iraq has been successfully demonized as if everybody who lives there is Saddam Hussein. In the build-up to this attack on Iraq, journalists have almost universally excluded the prospect of civilian deaths, the numbers of people who would die, because those people don't matter.It's only when journalists understand the role they play in this propaganda, it's only when they realize they can't be both independent, honest journalists and agents of power, that things will begin to change.

The War Dance

Dir: Sean Fine & Andrea Nix - 2007
A fine documentary on horrible war and music. The film blends the horrific stories of three child victims of war with youthful hope for the future through music. The cinematography is outstanding. The directors manage to capture the beautiful landscape of Uganda's war-torn north while also showing how ravaged both the countryside and families have been during the last decades. The music that propels the film forward was also inspiring, wonderful and unique to ears.

The willow tree

dir: Majid Majidi - 2005
A moving, thought-provoking movie from Majid Majidi (director of children of heaven and color of paradise). It is a story of Youssef, a blind university professor, who spends his time playing with his young daughter, and has his wife assist him with his work. From the onset, it's a happy little family, except that Youssef has a dream, that he could one day regain his sight and see again.Life is always unexpecting one, you do not know what is there waiting for for u........ Visually speaking, the weaving of light with dark scenes allows the story to further come to life giving a final illumination on a story that shares, sympathizes and delivers.The film might seem simple - few key characters (lovable too), gorgeously shot, and you might think you have the plot all wrapped up, there's always this beauty in the simplicity of it all, and its powerful underlying message ever so subtle, in no way sledge-hammering itself on you at all.

My favorite children's films

Bicycle thieves (1948, Italian, Dir: Vittorio De Sica)
Grave of fireflies (1988, Japanese, Dir: Isao Takahata)
Children of Heaven ( 1997, Iranian, Dir: Majid Majidi)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988, Japanese, Dir: Miyazaki)
Color of paradise(2000, Iranian, Dir: Majid Majidi)
Spirited Away (2001, Japanese, Dir: Miyazaki)
Not one less (1999, Chinese, Dir: Zhang Yimou)
The way home (2002, Korean, Dir: Jeong-hyang Lee)
Life is beautiful (1997, Italian, Dir: Roberto Benigni)
Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2000, Moroccan, Dir: Nabil Ayouch)
Kes (1969, English, Dir: Ken Loach)
E.T (1982, English, Dir: Steven Spielberg)

Miyazaki the Magician

Hayao Miyazaki films touch our hearts warmly and leave a feel of nostalgia. Canvas of most of his films was created from fairy tales and he painted it with the colours of real world. He denies violence (in any forms) and dreams about a harmonic world. His characters prove that human life becomes more meaningful when it shares the same destiny with the nature – simple and away from modern complexities. The idea of class struggle can be traced out from his movies and they proclaim humanity over the concept of modern development. The main features of his films are – simple storyline, ordinary characters in extra ordinary situations, elements of humanity, anti-war messages, environmentalism, denies violence, absence of stereotype characters, denies the concept of good versus evil, upholding the power of labour etc.,
His must see films are
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Spirited Away (2001, Oscar winner)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

My neighbor Totoro is one of the best animation movies ever produced in any language in the world.

Mumabi Meri Jaan

The film Mumabi meri jaan is one of the best films produced in hindi in the recent time. it is a rare combination of social consciousness and craftsmanship. The film is about mumbai and its people. It is about anger, humility, humanity, fear, self realizations, hate and self loathing, all surfacing over the heartbeats of mumbai. Here parallel story telling technique is used without hurting the flow of the story. The story starts from the footage of the famous independence day speech by Nehru accompanied by the visuals of changing face of mumbai. The main characters in this film are living in mumbai who have nothing in common -police constable, TV journalist, coffeewallah, technocrat, unemployed suspicious young man, etc., All there life were suddenly changed by a bomb explosion in the metro train. The explosion has brought different feelings in the characters. one of them becomes more suspicious about Muslims, another one fears to travel in trains, the coffeewallah plays with the paranoid, the wisdom of the retiring cop always in confrontation with the idealistic cop who had to cancel his holiday.. and the tv journo who has now become the story.. The film strongly criticize the media. Must watch film...!!!!!!!!!!!

The threats of narrow identity politics

I know many of you guys are not interested in politics but I would like to share some information because I think it is very important for our future and future of our country. Many of us are not aware how the Sangh Pariwar is emerging as a powerful force in India. After Gujarat massacre and the consecutive victories in the state assembly elections one thing they (Sangh Pariwar) understood was that mass violence and destructive identity politics (and thus creating fear psychosis) is very effective in gathering votes and thus capturing power. Now they have got multiple locations to carry out this exercise (Orissa, Karnataka, M.P and Rajasthan, etc,). They are playing with religious identity politics.

Let me explain some details about the identity politics. Identity is a crucial element in social life. When someone ask you the question who are you? What answer will u give? Name, sex, physical features, family, place, occupation, hobbies, ethnicity, religion, affiliations, nationality etc. This is the identity of a person living in a society. All of us have multiple identities - some identities are inherited by birth like sexuality, physical features, etc, and some identities are gathered from the social life like religion, nationality, occupation, etc.

Now let me ask one question. When i ask, who are you? Why do you have to give this much of information? It basically because you are differentiating yourself from "others". There are females in this world that is why you have to write I am a male (if there are only males in this world no one would ask this question to you); there are "other" different religions in this society that is why you have to say "i am Hindu or Muslim or Christian", there are "other" hobbies in this world that is why you have to say I like cricket. So we can say that it is because of "others", I have an identity in this world.

Identities become prominent when identity conflicts happen. Let me explain that. When you are living in India and someone asks you who are you? Usually you don't have to tell that u r an Indian. But when u go to other countries and someone asks you, who you are? You have to tell I am Indian. So you will be more conscious about your identity when u faces conflicts.

There are individual identities (like name) as well as group identity (like religion, nationality). In social life consciously or unconsciously we compare, associate and differentiate us with others. That is why we wear "Poonnool" or "Cap" or "Uniform" etc. The concept of "others" is very powerful to create and run a nation. For an example: The nation "India" is formed because of the presence of an "other". The states in India are different in language (very important identity which creates majority of nations), culture and geographical features. Even then the unity of India is formed because of the freedom fight against the "other - British". And it is only that fight which brought us together to form a nation called “India”. So the "other" is very important in politics that is why we use the word "ideology" (without even thinking that what it actually means).

Now, let me come to the present scenario. All the political movements and "ideologies" always associate itself with some group identities - sometimes in a broader sense and sometimes in a narrow way. Ideology of communists and socialists associate itself with the identity of working class. The working class is a broader identity - means it includes men, women, all religions, all nationalities, etc. That is why the socialist party and communist parties spread across the globe.

On the contrary, there were other parties which used narrow identities in politics like Hitler's NAZI party - which was created on the basis of "ARYAN" identity. He had successfully implemented the politics of superior and inferior identities, which means by birth you belong to a superior race or inferior race. So, all the inferior races should be terminated or bring under "control" by the superior race to achieve the ultimate development. For NAZI party "Jews", "Communists", all races other than ARYANS were the others. He had carried out genocides on the basis of this identity politics. But ultimately it resulted in the collapse of German State.

Now in India we are facing such a narrow and dangerous identity politics- which tells us all Muslims, Christian’s, secular forces are threats to our nation. They have created an artificial & unrealistic "HINDU IDENTITY" and proclaim the superiority of that religion. One of their famous statements is that "All Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims" (after sometime they will say that all Muslims are terrorists or sympathizers of terrorism). The reality is that majority of terrorist group in the world are non-muslim organizations like LTTE, ULFA, IRA, etc., also please don't forget Khalistan movement). According to the UN declaration. the biggest terrorist group in the world is not Al-qaeda but LTTE (which includes Hindus also).

This political formation is systematically spreading the communal agenda throughout the country. There are ample number of evidences that many of the so called terrorist attacks were manipulated by Bajrang Dal and such communal organisations. Why r they doing this? Simply so as to create the "other" as Muslims who are monstrous & dangerous. Once you created that image then it is easy to polarise the society and implement the fear psychosis. Media is the best tool to do so. Throughout India Bajrang Dal and such fundamentalist groups are training people to take arms up against minority communities and secular forces.

Sangh Pariwar is really a threat not only to the minority communities but to our democratic system too. They are against our constitution which is built on secular values and principles of human rights. The pluralistic India is facing extinction. What can we do to stop this. Whatever religion you belongs to or whatever political party you belong to this is the time to act because we are moving towards a fascist nation.

The time is reached to recognise this truth and tell your fellow citizens about it.

Bloody Sunday

I just want to say this to the British Government... You know what you've just done, don't you? You've destroyed the civil rights movement, and you've given the IRA the biggest victory it will ever have. All over this city tonight, young men... boys will be joining the IRA, and you will reap a whirlwind........

(Ivan Cooper, Leader, Irish civil right movement after Bloody sunday massacre)

Bloody Sunday is a classic political drama directed by Paul Greengrass (Director of Bourne Series). The film is a unique attempt to recreate the events happened in Northern Ireland on January 30, 1972 popularly known as bloody Sunday. Many survivors of that day took part in the production of the film along with people of the city. There was not a single artificial light used for the production of the film and whole film was shot using handheld camera. So the viewers feels that they are "on the spot" witnessing the events. The film shows how the civil right movement was replaced by the violence of IRA due to the brutal action by the British govt.
Really haunting film...!!

Shaurya & Summer 2007

"We don't confront anything that's uncomfortable. But the fact of the matter is that the Indian Muslim is living a very real crisis. This film is born of a very private anguish. Why is it that a Khan is asked to prove his patriotism in this country while a Jha is not? Why do I've to wear my patriotism on the sleeve?"
(Samar Khan)

After a long time Bollywood is speaking something different, different from what we conceived about Bollywood. Not the stars, but the story has captured the attention this time. Here I am talking about two films which have bravely addressed uncomfortable realities of our time.

"Shaurya" (dir: Samar Khan) & "Summer 2007" (dir: Suhail Tatari)

Shaurya

The movie revolves around the court martial of a Muslim officer, Javed Khan, in the Indian Army for shooting his commanding officer and is set against the backdrop of the Kashmir Conflict in Northern India. Rahul Bose (Maj. Siddhant Chaudhary) is assigned to be Javed Khan's defence lawyer, and the story revolves around his investigations in the circumstances leading up to the shooting.

Summer 2007

Summer 2007 starts with an unexpected opening scene of a man setting himself on fire in the middle of a crop field (title indicates that it is happening in Vidarbha, Maharashtra). Then director leads us away from this village to a rich private medical college, where we meet 5 students hooked onto MTV culture. We can see the non-political atmosphere of the campus as an orchestrated vanity fair. The 5 students ask for a transfer (to attend rural service) in order to escape from the campus election. With the expectation of enjoying the title summer in Goa, they insist on a placement nearby. As an outcome they land up in one of the most deprived villages in Maharashtra.

Their rural posting turns into a soul searching journey where they are forced to confront their own apathy, their own fears and their strange complicity in the circumstances of the village. Before they can run from there, they get sucked into the whirlpool of counter currents. Each of the five undergo different kinds of catharsis and in the end have to make a choice. Do they leave the mess just as they had found it and get away from there...or do they choose to get involved?

The director bravely presents an issue that one has only read in the newspaper or heard on the news channel and immediately forgotten thereafter. He does not throw the message in your face nor does he preach to us about solutions. He presents the reality of Indian villages in the era of "Economic Growth". He criticize media, politicians, economic policies, feudal system still prevails in India, money lending mafia, police force(which creates naxalites out of poor villagers), etc.,

A rare movie in Indian context……

Both these films are not classic films. They have their own draw backs. In the first film (Shaurya) the climax became too simplistic (but we can see the excellent performance by the main actors). In the second film the selection of actors was not up to the mark (the main actor is a new comer and just learning the basics of acting). The first part of Summer 2007 is too long. Even then these films deserve attention from viewers who love serious movies.

But unfortunately Summer 2007 became a big flop in the box office and Shaurya was an average hit. Our film critiques also ignored these films. I fear if such films are not recognized, in future no director will show the courage to take up such issues in colloid format.

The Cave of the Yellow Dog

Today I have seen a marvelous film in which we can feel the death of nature and the noiseless love in its original form. The film remains about a totally different world available to us in contrast to the modern excitements (bullets, speed, explosions, fast food etc.). The story is so simply and genuine – in an isolated Mongolian grassland place a nomad family spends summer season. One of the little girls in this family makes friendship with a cute puppy she finds in a cave; her father wants her to leave dog where she found it - little girl struggles to keep dog. It is exciting to see a mode of life so totally different to our own and portrayed so honestly and without any moral squint at all. Its beauty lies in its simple storyline and seemingly unobstructed participants. The way the each character in this film interact with each other, and especially the way the children express love and affection to each other was amazing. The cast in The Cave of the Yellow Dog are actually a real family of amateur actors. However, what they achieved through this film can’t be achieved by any professional actors in this world.

The director of this movie is Byambasuren Davaa, a Mongolian filmmaker living in Germany. You may familiar with her earlier work The Story of the Weeping Camel (also an excellent work). Through her films she portrays the life of nomads in Mongolia. The subjects of her movies also serve as amateur actors, playing mostly themselves, which positions her work somewhere between documentary and fiction.

The Story of Xiao Yan (Shang xue lu shang)

(dir: Gangliang Fang, 2004)

A beautiful Chinese film based on a real incident. The story is about Wang Yan, a 15 year old girl lived in a remote dry area, who wants to continue her studies at any cost. On the last day of an academic year, teacher told all the children that 24.8 Yuan would be the next year’s fee. But Wang Yan’s mother can’t afford this money because of financial constrains.

In order to continue her school life, Wang Yan had to earn 24.8 Yuan by herself in this summer vacation. She starts with 10 eggs…..it was difficult but imaginative process to accumulate all the money. The way to realize dream is always so flexural, however, it is in such a situation that the vitality and willpower of a countryside girl seems to be so vivid and vigorous.

Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist is a controversial mind blowing documentary directed by Peter Joseph which was released on 2007. The film was released through Google Video to the public and it became the most viewed video in Google video chart.

The film start with a critical comment on religion followed by an animation sequence of human evolution leads to montage of visual of modern wars. In continuation to this we can see a hand writing 1 + 1 = 2, which then replaced by a bible and an American flag (this denotes that imperialism and religion are two sides of a coin). After a few more war clips, the film then quotes Inner World of the Occult (Jordan Maxwell), criticizing religious institutions, governments, and the banking cartels who wants to control the world through myths, wars and economic policies.

The film is basically divided into 3 parts 1) the myth of Jesus Christ 2) the myth of 9/11 3) the raise of American banks which seized world power at the beginning of the 20th century

The Greatest Story Ever Told (Part 1)

Born on 25^th December, born of a virgin mother, his arrival was proclaimed by a star in the east and adorned by 3 kings, at the age of 12 became teacher, baptized at 30, travelled with 12 disciples and performed miracles, known as "lamb of God"/"The Light" etc.,, betrayed and crucified, resurrected on the 3 day.

Who is he…? Wait before u says the answer. I am describing about Horus(BC 3000) , the Ancient Egyptian Sun God..!!

ATTIS (BC 1200), the God of Greece was also born of a virgin on 25^th December. He was also crucified and dead for 3 days and resurrected.

Dionysus(BC 500) the Greece god has the story- born of a virgin on 25^th December. He was also crucified and resurrected upon his death.

Mithra (BC 1200) the Persian god- born of a virgin on 25^th December, has 12 disciples, performed miracles, 3 days after his death resurrected, day for his worship is "Sunday".

The fact of the matter is there are numerous saviours of different periods from all over the world subscribed to this general characteristic.

BUT WHY…??????

The answer is in the SKY…!!! Because this believes is a literary and astrological hybrid one and based on astrological principles documented by many ancient civilizations, especially pertaining to the movement of the sun through the sky and stars. The film explains how and why early civilizations personified the sun as the "representative of the unseen creator or god and how stars were linked into constellations, the 12 constellations being a place of travel for "God's Sun" and representing "elements of nature that happened during that period of time." This section is also used by the film to show the Pagan origins of the symbol of the Cross.

According to the movie, religion and myths in general are used to manipulate and mobilize populations and maintain established social structures.

All the World's a Stage (Part 2)

Part II of the documentary claims 9/11 was engineered to generate mass fear, justify going to war with Afghanistan and Iraq, to remove civil liberties from the general public, and to make more money for the people in power. It points out the similarities between fire on the German parliament during Hitler's regime and 9/11 attack.

It describes how American economy needs war and how they are manipulating to create wars in the last century.

Don't Mind the Men behind the Curtain(Part 3)

The title of Part III (Don't Mind the Men behind the Curtain) is in reference to the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz.

According to Part III, powerful bankers have been conspiring for world domination and increased power while the rich of society have been using their wealth to increase financial panic and foster a consolidation of independent competing banks. The film details the Theory of Electronic Conspiracy and claims that the Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the united states, was created in order to steal the wealth of the nation. It explores war profiteering by banking cartels and defense and military contractors. It describes the goal of these bankers as world power over a controllable public.

My favorite Malayalam movies

Piravi (Dir: Shaji N Karun, 1988)

Oridathu (Dir: Aravindan, 1986)

Vidheyan (Dir: Adoor Gopalakrishnan, 1994)

Panchavadipallam (Dir: K.G George, 1984)

Vadakkunokkiyantram (Dir: Srinivasan, 1989)

Daany (Dir: T.V Chandran, 2002)

Daivathinte Vikruthikal(Dir: Lenin Rajendran, 1994)

Mughamugham (Dir: Adoor Gopalakrishnan, 1984)

Thoovana Thumbikal (Dir: P. Padmarajan, 1987)

Anubhavangal Palichakal (Dir: K.S. Sethumadhavan,1971)

Hurray i became kochachan....!!!!!

My brother Bency's son born on 21/07/2008

El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona Year : 2007

While I was searching for a good horror movie to watch, accidentally I found this Spanish movie. First I thought it might be another stereotype horror movie of a haunted house and evil spirits in it. Surprisingly not…..!! (Even though it is about a lonely house and spirits in it). There is classy touch in this movie. The selection of shots, dramatic camera work, fine editing, flowing storyline, good performance by the actors and awe-inspiring location. The director succeeds to create a mystic atmosphere through out the film. Screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez does a masterful job of balancing the thriller with the drama.The opening shots of the film are cleverly linked with the climax of the movie. The climax of the movie is really heart breaking…!

Synopsis

Laura was a former orphan. She bought the old orphanage building where she was raised and moved there with her adopted son Simón and husband Carlos. An unknown visitor informed her that Simón is HIV positive. Simon starts behaving strangely and tells Laura that he has five invisible friends, and she believes they are fruit of his imagination. Laura decides to reopen an orphanage for handicapped children in the location and during the opening party; Simón calls her to show the little cabin of his invisible friend Tomás. The busy Laura does not give much attention to her son; then she sees a mysterious masked boy and Simón vanishes. Laura feels the presence of other persons in the house and months later she finds the terrible truth about her son’s disappearance.

This was Spain's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of Oscars 2008.

The Chaser (Chugyeokja)

Director: Hong-Jin Na

This film which was released this year became a surprise hit in South Korea. It was Hong-Jin Na's debt feature film and the actors are not so popular in the film industry. The budget of the film was also a mediocre one. After the slow start in the box office, the film became very popular through mouth publicity. It became the biggest hit of the year 2008 in south korea. The breath taking performance of the leading artists, craftsmanship of the director and thrilling storyline are the plus point of this movie.

Synopsis

Joong-ho is a pimp who was a detective once. He is in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. One night, he gets a call from a customer and sends one of his remaining girls Mi-jin. But when Mi-jin meets the customer, Jung-ho realizes the phone number of the customer matches that of the calls the missing girls got last. As something smells fishy, he searches for her. During his search, Jung-ho dents a car in the alley. When Jung-ho spots blood splattered on the driver’s shirt, he senses the man, Young-min, is the suspect. After an intense chase, Jung-ho finally catches Young-min. But because of Jung-ho’s pretence as a cop, they are both taken to the police station. At the station, he bluntly tells the policemen that he has killed the missing women, and the last girl, Mi-jin, may still be alive. As the police force is obsessed with a random search for corpses, Jung-ho is the only one who believes Mi-jin is still alive. With only 12 hours left to detain the serial killer without a warrant, Jung-ho’s hunt begins.

The Panama Deception

Director : Barbara Trent

Year : 1992

U.S. attacked Panama on 1989 which was a training exercise before the gulf war. In this invasion about four thousand people were killed. The excuse given was to get the drug lord, General Noriega, who had been on the CIA's payroll for 20 years. We see not only the devastation did to Panama, but also how American media was complicit in the way all of this was presented to the American public. The story is largely told through footage of the aftermath and interviews of victims, official diplomats and military officials. The comments by the Pentagon spokesman and military general were ironic when excellently juxtaposed with images that refuted their half-truths and deception. It won oscar for best documentary film in 1993

The Ghost of Rwanda

A very sensitive documentary on the genocide orchestrated by the ultra right wing Hutu(ethnic majority in Rwanda) groups in Rwanda during 1994. It is estimated that 8 lakhs Tutsi(ethnic minority) people were methodically hunted down and killed in the massacre. During the massacre what UN or the world peace protector USA was doing? The documentary examines UN & US’s role in this crisis. It shows how the social, political and diplomatic failures converged to enable the massacre to occur.

Through the interviews of Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire, we can see the inefficiency of UN to stop the crisis. When he send a warning fax to UN headquarters regarding the unrest in Rwanda and asking permission to interfere before the massacre starts, UN secretary general Kofi Annan rejected the request within hours.

When the genocide started Belgian authorities withdrawn their armies since 10 Belgian army persons were killed by the rioters. UN also wants to withdraw its army but the brave UN soldiers refused to do so. The UN Security Council decided to keep a few peace keeping soldiers in the country because of the pressure from other African countries. First UN was even not ready to call it as genocide because if they recognize it as genocide they have to interfere in it.

Annan says “we have few numbers of soldiers in the country and they are not enough to resist the massacre. So we told them to not to take any actions”. In an interview he says “I have asked 80 countries to send soldiers to the mission but no one took any steps in this direction”. So what is the meaning to keep UN alive..???

When a black activist escaped from Rwanda and went to US to request help from US, one diplomat told her that “US do not have any friends but only interests and in your country we do not have any interest”. Clinton during his speech says “our national interest do not allow us to interfere in this issue”

Through interviews with key government officials, diplomats, soldiers, and survivors of the slaughter, "Ghosts of Rwanda" presents groundbreaking, first-hand accounts of the genocide. The film has lot of heart breaking moments…..when UN army came to rescue the diplomats, media persons and foreign citizens, the tutsi people beg to save their life too. But it was not the “interest” of the international community…!!

"With the perspective of time, the Rwandan crisis can be seen as a crucial test of the international system and its values -- a clash between the ideals of humanitarianism and the cold logic of realism and national interest," (Greg Barker, Director “The ghost of Rwanda”).

A must see documentary…!!!

Shocking Documentary on Patrice Lumumba

CBC Newsworld had produced eight-Part series on Political assassinations which examines some of the world's most horrific political murders of the second half of the 20th century. The series takes an in-depth look at murders that changed the course of world history and forces viewers to consider some startling questions: Who benefited or was protected by these murders? What role did governments or government agencies play in these murders? Are there conspiracies to suppress the truth? POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS looks at these assassinations in light of new evidence, little known facts, and through vivid re-enactments and interviews with first hand witnesses.

In this series one documentary is on Patrice Lumumba. The interviews of the murder witness and murders can shocks you. When u hear the interview of Belgian agent saying

"i have chopped the dead body of lumumba into small pieces. we don't want to show his dead body to the public. so we burnt his body, then i brought Sulphuric Acid and put the remaining parts in it. we ensured nothing remains.." The cruelty of colonial rulers and CIA has no limits.

The film will surely shocks you.......

Patrice Lumumba was an African anti-colonial leader, and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. But for western powers he was a threat. It was at the height of the Cold War, and Congo was vital to Western interests because of its vast mineral resources. CIA agent Larry Devlin received 100,000 dollars from the Agency along with telegraphed instructions to make the "elimination of Lumumba" the "priority goal" of his covert action.

Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed an army coup, inspired by the West. Colonel Mobutu, the key figure in the coup, supported by the Congo's former colonial power, Belgium, and the CIA, became the Congo's ruler.

In the early December, 1960, Patrice Lumumba and two of his Ministers were killed by members of the Belgian Secret Service. None of the murderers - or the men behind them - has ever been indicted, but Lumumba's voice still echoes throughout Africa today.

My favorite documentary of the week

Life and Debt

An informative and elegant documentary directed by Stephanie Black, depicts the impacts of globalization on Jamaica. This documentary, what could have been a dry lecture on globalization gets shaped by the filmmaker into a stylized narrative framework which is poetic, incisive and keep u close to the film. The intricacy of international free trade economics and structural adjustment policies will be understood in the context of the day-to-day realities of the people whose lives they impact. The film opens with the arrival of vacationers to the island—through voice-over, we begin to understand the profound contrasts behind the breathtaking natural beauty of the island. The poetic urgency of narration lends a first-person understanding of the legacy of the country's colonial past, and to it's present day economic challenges.

My Favorite Korean Films

Sopyonje & Chihwaseon
(Dirctor : Im Kwon Taek)

Peppermint Candy &Oasis
(Director: Lee Chang Dong)

A Petal
(Director: Jang Sun-woo)

To Save the Green Planet
(Director: JangJun-hwan)

Memories of Murder
(Director: Joon ho bong)

Old Boy & Joint Security Area
(Director: Park Chan Wook)

The Way Home
(Director : Lee Jeong-hyng)

My Heart
(Director : Bae Chang-ho)

Address Unknown & Bad Guy
(Director : Kim KiDuk)

The Presidents Barber
(Director: Chan-sang)

North Korean Partisan in South Korea
(Director: Jeong Jiyeong)

Best non-fiction films - My personal choice

the list of best non-fiction films. I would like to get feed back from you. i have avoided wild life films and science films

1. Hearts and Minds (director: Peter Davis)
Year: 1974
My favorite documentary. It boldly probed the depths of Vietnam war with sharp critical observations. The film was made when the war had hardly ended and when the movie picked up Oscar for best non-fiction film there was protest from the Hollywood conservative elite. 34 years
later the film still manages to evoke a similar degree of pain, even if it only the pain of recall.

2. Bowling for columbine (director:Michael Moore)
Year: 2002

I prefer "Bowling for Columbine" than 9/11 Fahrenheit as Michael Moore's best film. It is a brave, well researched, alternately humorous and activist film about the violent social psyche of United States. He is searching the answer to the question "Why do 11,000 people die in America each year at the hands of gun violence?"

It was the first documentary film accepted into competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 46 years.

3. Ram Ke Nam (Dir: Anand Patwardhan)
Year: 1991

Restrainedly courageous and prophetic film, in combat with the communal forces. He has foreseen the rise of communal power in India. The film reveals the campaign waged by the militant "Sang Pariwar" to destroy a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya. in this film u can see the
real image of our "Next Prime minister..!! "

4. Night and Fog ( Dir: Alain Resnais)
Year : 1955

It has a powerful and poetic commentary along with haunting achieve footage of several concentration camps in Poland. It portraits the horror of brutal inhumanity in the Nazi Concentration Camps. The film offers far more than visual evidence of Nazi atrocities. It urges us
to remember and never forget what happened long ago in these camps. It links the past to the present and gives to memory the burden of sustaining a moral conscience. Through the elliptic, evocative tone of the commentary by Jean Cayrol, a survivor of Auschwitz, The film sets out to represent the unrepresentable.

5. The Hour of the Furnaces (Dir: Octavio Getino and Fernando Solanas)
Year : 1968

It is a four-hour long,sprawling, convulsive, radical documentary on the political, social, and economic condition of Argentina. It is a call for violent revolution designed to be used as a tool for
education, information, and debate (complete with titles signaling intervals for discussion). Cinematically, it is a varied catalogue of aesthetic approaches, encompassing interviews, cinema vérité footage, newsreels, sophisticated montage, and even minimalism (most famously, a still image, held for two-and-a-half minutes, of Che's dead face).

6. Koyaanisqatsi (Dir. Godfrey Reggio)
Year : 1982

Koyaanisqatsi means Life out of balance, is an apocalyptic vision of the collision of two different worlds -- urban life and technology versus the environment. According to Godfrey "these films have never been about the effect of technology, of industry on people. It's been that everyone: politics, education, things of the financial structure, the nation state structure, language, the culture, religion, all of that exists within the host of technology. So it's not the effect of it's that everything exists within [technology]. It's not that we use technology, we live technology. Technology has become as ubiquitous as the air we breathe..." . The film is a visual symphony created by incomparable talent of Ron Fricke(cinematographer) and music by Philip Glass. The movie do not have any commentary or dialogue.

7. Baraka (Dir. Ron Fricke)
Year : 1992

Like Koyaanisqatsi, Baraka is also a visual poetry without any commentary and dialogue. Baraka means Blessings, a film which traces the cultural diversity, development crisis, historic violence,
religious believes, technological take over etc., Unbelievable camera work and editing. In this film you can see classic examples for time lapse cinematography. The movie was filmed at 152 locations of 24
countries.

8. Power of Nightmares - The Rise of the Politics of Fear (Dir: Adam Curtis)
Year : 2004 (3 episodes, 1 hour each)

Well made, well researched BBC documentary on the Fear Politics created by American neo-conservative movement. It describes the origin of the American Neo-Conservative movement and the radical Islamist movement and their similarities. More controversially, it argues that the threat of radical Islam as a massive, sinister organised force of destruction, specifically in the form of Al-Qaeda, is in fact a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countries—and particularly American Neo-Conservatives—in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more Utopian ideologies.

9. Man with a movie camera (Dir: Dziga Vertov)
Year : 1929

Upon the official release of Man with a Movie Camera, Vertov issued a statement at the beginning of the film, which read:

"The film Man with a Movie Camera represents
AN EXPERIMENTATION IN THE CINEMATIC TRANSMISSION
Of visual phenomena
WITHOUT THE USE OF INTERTITLES
(a film without intertitles)
WITHOUT THE HELP OF A SCRIPT
(a film without script)
WITHOUT THE HELP OF A THEATRE

In this film Soviet citizens are shown at work and at play, and interacting with the machinery of modern life from dawn to dusk. You can see the presence of the camera man in every where...he is not a observer but a part of the events. It has used all kinds of editing techniques which we still follow.

10. Repatriation (Dir: Kim Dong Won)
Released on 2004

The film is about unconverted prisoners in South Korea. You may wonder what is this unconverted prisoners?? They are ex-prisoners in South Korea who were jailed for their Communist beliefs, and refusing to renounce their ideology despite torture and intimidation. Many of these men spent decades (up to 45 years) in South Korean prisons. Only in the 1990s, against the backdrop of democratic reforms, did large numbers of unconverted prisoners gain their freedom. But what to do with these people. Many of them wants to go back to North Korea, but the government was against it.

The filmmaker Kim Dong Won developed a close relationship with them after they moved to his neighborhood after their release from prison. This friendship eventually led him to a film project, which spanned 12 years and 800 hours of videotaping. The film documents their views on Korea's partition, their daily hardships as they attempt to adjust to South Korean society as well as their struggle for repatriation.Through this intimate portrayal, Kim offers a penetrating insight into the tragic consequences of the Cold War that still persist in Korea.

Repatriation is equally effective in portraying the experiences of some noteworthy participants in history, and giving insight into the situation faced by Korea as an ideologically divided nation.

Kim Dong-won was arrested and jailed by the government for making this film but because of public protest he was released.


(Some information on Director Kim Dong-won: He is the legendary documentary film maker in Korea, and a hugely influential figure in the independent film sector. Kim's Sanggye-dong Olympics is seen as a key early milestone in the independent documentary movement in Korea.
With Repatriation, a project that took him many years and much effort to produce, he won over an unusual amount of attention from local media and critics. After debuting at the 2003 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in Japan, the film won the Freedom of Expression award at Sundance in the US. When it was released in Korea in March 2004, it became the best-selling local documentary ever)

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There are lot of documentaries that i was unable to include here because of the constrain of numbers..... the films like "GLASS", "NANOOK OF THE NORTH", "FINAL SOLUTION" (Rakesh Sharma), "REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED", "FIDEL-UNTOLD STORY", "THE BATTLE OF CHILE", "CHECK POINT", etc.,

Best Political Movies - My choice

1. Z (Directed by Costa-Gavras)
Country: Algeria/France, Duration: 127 min, Language: French, Year: 1969

Historically accurate political film presented in splendid way combining mystery and thriller. We can see the craftsmanship of Costa-Gavras in this movie. The film traces the chronicles of the overthrow of the democratic government in Greece. When a liberal politician is murdered in an attack during a peace demonstration, the right wing established figures in the military and the police try and hide not only their parts in it, but try to cover up the murder as well. The magistrate must act as a detective in order to go through the cover up. Oscar winner in the category of best foreign language movie in 70.

2. Doctor Strange love or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb (Directed by Stanley Kubrick)
Country: UK, Duration: 93 min, Language: English, Year: 1964

The best political comedy evermade. Masterpiece of Stanley Kubrick. A U.S. Air Force General becomes mad, and sends his bomber wing to use nuclear bomb against U.S.S.R. He suspects that the communists are conspiring to pollute the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people. The U.S. president meets with his advisors, where the Soviet ambassador tells him that if the U.S.S.R. is hit by nuclear weapons, it will trigger a "Doomsday Machine" which will destroy all plant and animal life on Earth. The former Nazi genius Dr. Strangelove, who concludes that "such a device would not be a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious".

3. A dry white season(Directed by Euzhan Palcy)
Country: USA, Duration: 97 minutes, Language: English, Year: 1989

The main character in this movie is a white schoolteacher who always has considered himself a man of caring and justice, at least on the individual level. When his gardeners son is brutally beaten up by the police at a demonstration by black school children, he gradually begins to realize his society is built on a pillar of injustice and exploitation. The film is a strong commentary on Apartheid regime in South Africa. The film will disturb and hunt you for a long time.

4. Joint Security Area(Directed by Park Chan Wook)
Country: South Korea, Duration: 110 minutes, Language: Korean, Year: 2000

In the De Militarized Zone(DMZ) separating North and South Korea, two North Korean soldiers have been killed, supposedly by one South Korean soldier. But the 11 bullets found in the bodies, together with the 5 remaining bullets in the assassin's magazine clip, amount to 16 bullets for a gun that should normally hold 15 bullets. The investigating Swiss/Swedish team from the neutral countries overseeing the DMZ suspects that another, unknown party was involved - all of which points to some sort of cover up. The truth is much simpler and much more tragic. I personally wish to see the remake of this movie in the Indian context(means instead of North Korea-South Korea i would like to see India-Pakistan)

5. Missing (Directed by Costa-Gavras)
Country: USA, Duration: 122 minutes, Language: English, Year: 1982

It is based on the true story of American journalist Charles Horman, who disappeared in the bloody aftermath of the Chilean Coup of 1973 that deposed President Salvador Allende. Set largely during the days and weeks following Horman's disappearance, the film depicts his father and wife searching in vain to determine his fate. I believe this film may motivated Shaji N Karun to make his classic film "Piravi"

In Manali with Surya

Be with love...

My article published in Janayugam news paper on Ms. Joya, a brave Afghan activist