Occupy Sandy

The author of Gasland and The Sky is Pink made one little documentary concerned with the people affected by the Hurricane Sandy.

Occupy Sandy is a coordinated relief effort to distribute resources and volunteers to help neighborhoods and people affected by Hurricane Sandy.

How unfair it is to sort of name these hurricanes after a harmless girls. Every girl named Sandy in the New York Metropolitan area is going to spend the next 10 years hearing bad jokes. It is time to name them for the people who are causing them.

We should go right through the alphabet finding every oil, coal and gas company because these guys are pouring carbon into the atmosphere that is supercharging these hurricanes.

Sandy was the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded north of Cape Paterson. Its winds stretched further than any storm that we ever measured. We should call it what it is: Hurricane Exxon. That way the stories in the news would sound just right.

           Watch the full documentary now

The Hobbit - Production Diaries 4 of 7

Check out Peter Jackson's Youtube Channel for more The Hobbit-Production Diaries! 

Making Sketti | Here Comes Honey Boo Boo

June is in the kitchen whipping up a family favorite for dinner - "sketti". | For more Honey Boo Boo, visit http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/here-comes-honey-boo-boo/#mkcpgn=yttlc1

Why Doesn't MTV Play Music Videos Anymore?

Odd Couples: PBS Nature Series

Despite the odds, there are countless stories of the most unlikely cross-species relationships imaginable: a goat guiding a blind horse; a doe who regularly visits her Great Dane surrogate mother; a juvenile gibbon choosing to live with a family of capuchins, and so on. Instincts gone awry? The subject has mystified scientists for years. Now, NATURE investigates why animals form these special bonds. Informed by the observations of caregivers and noted scientists Temple Grandin and Marc Bekoff, the film explores what these relationships suggest about the nature of animal emotions. Buy the film. Animal Odd Couples premiered November 7, 2012. (Video limited to US & Territories).

Watch Animal Odd Couples on PBS. See more from Nature.

source=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/animal-odd-couples/full-episode/8009/

Echotone (2010)

     Internationally known as 'The Live Music Capital of the World,' Austin's music culture has led it to become one of the world's most sought-after destinations. As nearly two dozen high-rises pop up throughout the city amidst an economic downfall, how does the working musician get along? This lyrical documentary provides a telescopic view into the lives of Austin's vibrant young musicians as they grapple with questions of artistic integrity, commercialism, experimentation, and the future of their beloved city. Echotone is a cultural portrait of the modern American city examined through the lyrics and lens of its creative class. 

There is rising star soul revivalist Black Joe Lewis selling out concert halls by night and delivering fish by day. There's Cari Palazzolo of synth pop sensation Belaire, poised for commercial success, but conflicted over the thought of her music turning into a commodity. Then there is experimental troubadour Bill Baird, whose band Sound Team enjoyed a major label deal with Capitol Records and were subsequently dropped after one album. Interweaving the tales of these young artists to form a mosaic illustrating the universal struggle many contemporary fringe cultures are experiencing, Echotone is a modern parable on integrity set against the back drop of a global economic, political, and cultural paradigm shift.

I'm scared! I'm unsure if we're capable of cooperating for the good of all

If you liked The Story of Stuff, you’ll sure like this excellent series of insightful videos.

Cap and Trade. Host Annie Leonard introduces the energy traders andWall Street financiers and reveals the “devils in the details” in current cap and trade proposals: free permits to big polluters, fake offsets and distraction from whats really required to tackle the climate crisis.

Bottled Water. Over five minutes, the film explores the bottled waterindustry’s attacks on tap water and its use of seductive, environmental-themed advertising to cover up the mountains of plastic waste it produces.

Cosmetics. This video examines the pervasive use of toxic chemicals in our everyday personal care products, from lipstick to baby shampoo. It also reveals the implications for consumer and worker health and the environment, and outlines ways we can move the industry away from hazardous chemicals and towards safer alternatives.

Electronics. High-tech revolution’s collateral damage – 25 million tons of e-waste and counting, poisoned workers and a public left holding the bill. Host Annie Leonard takes viewers from the mines and factories where our gadgets begin to the horrific backyard recycling shops in China where many end up.

Citizens United v. FEC. An exploration of the inordinate power that corporations exercise in our democracy.

Broke. The United States isn’t broke; We’re the richest country on the planet and a country in which the richest among us are doing exceptionally well. But the truth is, our economy is broken, producing more pollution, greenhouse gasses and garbage than any other country. In these and so many other ways, it just isn’t working.

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 51 minutes)

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/stories/

China: Secrets, Selection, Innovation, and Change

A series of videos that discus China’s dirty secrets (pollution), unnatural selection (one child policy), innovation (intellectual piracy), race for gold (Olympic success), and whispers of change (reformation).

China’s juggernaut economy is the envy of the world, but at what cost to the country’s people and environment?

China is facing an array of social dilemmas including a widening gender imbalance, decreasing fertility rate and an ageing population. At the root is its controversial one-child policy, which China is now considering loosening up on.

China is cultivating a new wave of visionaries in a bid to revive its slowing economic growth. But it also faces allegations of unfair trade practices and intellectual piracy by some of its major trading partners in the US and Europe.

China is home to some of the world’s best athletes. At the Beijing Olympics, the country topped the medals table, winning 100 medals in 25 sports, including 51 golds. In London 2012, it became clear that China’s state-backed sports system is slowly being overhauled. What does China sacrifice in its relentless pursuit of gold?

Will China stick to the status quo, or will it reform in a planned methodical manner or in a flurry of protests from a disgruntled populace?

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 2 hours)

source=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/china-secrets-selection-innovation-change/

relevant to sacred geometry: Symbolism in Logos

During the 20th century, urban environments got taken over by corporate logos. Studies have reported that an average person is exposed to about a hundreds of logos a day.

Few people however ponder on the symbolic meaning of these marketing tools and their occult origins.

Think about where you encounter logos on an average day: they are on household items, on cars, on clothes, in tv ads, on billboards, on insignia, and all over sporting events.

Logos are one of the results of extensive studies (funded by the Rockefeller’s “Chicago School”) in cognitive sciences, psychology and biology.

Those studies constitute the core of “marketing”, a heavily funded field which keeps its findings totally secret from the general public. Why are the findings secret?

The show begins with discussing the symbolism of two major corporations, Starbucks and Apple. What is really being said in logos?

This documentary was filmed in Bath and Bristol, England featuring special guests such as Michael Tsarion, Neil Hague, Ralph Ellis, Leo Rutherford, Neil Kramer, Dan Tatman and Peter Taylor. The crew also interviews a priest, university students, teachers and of course a couple random pub interviews.

source=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/symbolism-logos/

TED - HOW TO START A MOVEMENT

Seven Wonders of the Microbe World (combined)

This little documentary is talking about Microbes and why some are good, some are bad and what they have done for mankind.

Microbes have given us some devastating diseases, everything from the Black Death to cholera, syphilis, typhoid and the occasional yeast infection. But our microbial friends have also done us some good.

The video investigates: The origins of beer and brewing in Ancient Egypt, and the role microbes play in the process. Microbial origins of the Black Death. How do microbes destroy the food that we eat and how has humankind sought out different ways of preserving foodstuffs?

How critical microbes are to life on Earth with their role in nitrogen fixation – providing the essential elements that we need to survive. Experts reveal how the natural processes of microbes are used to fight disease.

The ways in which humans are learning to exploit microbes to produce medicines, fuel and food. How the discovery and examination of microbes in meteorites suggests that the planet Mars could have supported life in the same way as Earth.

Watch the full documentary now:

source=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/seven-wonders-microbe-world/

Dance Hall and Skin Bleaching-Caribbean Fashion Week

Charlet touches down in Kingston, Jamaica and gains an audience with Elephant Man, aka The Energy God, to find out why the dancehall girls cause the local men so many problems. She then explores the illegal and dangerous skin bleaching trend.

Follow FASHION WEEK INTERNATIONALE on Twitter:http://twitter.com/FashionWeekInt

Watch the rest of first episode of Season 2 here:http://www.vice.com/fashion-week-internationale/rio-fashion-week-part-1

Watch Season 1 here: http://bit.ly/FWI-Season-1

Death of the American Hobo (Vice Documentary)

We traveled by rail to the 112th National Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa, to see what was left of hobo life.

Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/Death-Of-The-American-Hobo

Watch more VICE documentaries here: http://bit.ly/VICE-Documentaries

Attend a M.I.T. Film Class on-line for free!

MIT 21L.011 The Film Experience, Fall 2007

David Thorburn This course is an introduction to narrative film, emphasizing the unique properties of the movie house and the motion picture camera, the historical evolution of the film medium, and the intrinsic artistic qualities of individual films. The primary focus is on American cinema, but secondary attention is paid to works drawn from other great national traditions, such as France, Italy, and Japan. The syllabus includes such directors as Griffith, Keaton, Chaplin, Renoir, Ford, Hitchcock, Altman, De Sica, and Fellini. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA More information at http://ocw.mit.edu/terms More courses at http://ocw.mit.edu

Lecture 1:Introduction:

 2. Keaton:

3. Chaplin:

World's Scariest Drug (Documentary Exclusive)

VICE's Ryan Duffy went to Colombia to check out a strange and powerful drug called Scopolamine, also known as "The Devil's Breath." It's a substance so intense that it renders a person incapable of exercising free will. The first few days in the country were a harrowing montage of freaked-out dealers and unimaginable horror stories about Scopolamine. After meeting only a few people with firsthand experience, the story took a far darker turn than we ever could have imagined.

Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires

This film chronicles the rise of the personal computer/home computer beginning in the 1970s with the Altair 8800, Apple II and VisiCalc.

It continues through the IBM PC and Apple Macintosh revolution through the 1980s and the mid 1990s at the beginning of the Dot-com boom. It includes interviews with Apple Computer’s Steve Jobs and Microsoft’s Bill Gates. This three-part film first premiered on PBS in June 1996.

The series was released in VHS format soon after airing but is now out of print. A release on DVD by Ambrose Video in 2002 was noted by product reviewers on Amazon.com and elsewhere to have numerous small but not insignificant segments excised from the program as originally aired for reasons that remain unknown. The older, unedited VHS copies of the documentary are highly prized, but difficult to find.

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 2 hours, 30 minutes)
Part 1 of 3:

WARNING XXX Rated:Kimberly Kane/Skinema/Vice Parts1,2,3&4

http://www.vice.com/skinema-show/kimberly-kane-part-1

Music Videos part 2

celeb appearance in video:

American Masters Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter

http://video.pbs.org/video/2178281391/

Learning to Think Critically

   From the author: Despite great strides in our understanding, the average person still does not understand science in the facts or in the practice, and instead fills the void with pseudoscience.

This reflects a worldview that values an emphasis on commonly accepted, traditional lore, and a general disinterest in the role of science and reason in our lives.

Science is perceived by the media, government, and popular conciousness as something that happens to other people.

This is unacceptable. We need to find a way to reach out with reason to the unreasonable, with knowledge to the ignorant, or else we will be unprepared when the moment of crisis finally arrives. There has never been a more important time to value and respect science, technology and reason.

Those who value science can not retreat into their academic towers. We are dependent on popular, political support for this effort, and we will never advance to the next stage without overwhelming public momentum. Outreach is essential, and it can start anywhere, and at any level.

I have a message and a challenge to all viewers. Do something to raise awareness of the role of science in our society, the importance of reason. Take it as a personal responsibility, or no-one will.

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 2 hours, 18 minutes)

source=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/learning-think-critically/

Music Videos (part1)

Utilizing Locations: Wildfire Burnt Bastrop Forest being used for film-making, making the most out of a tragedy

Utilizing Locations: Wildfire Burnt Bastrop Forest being used for film-making, making the most out of a tragedy. 
 On our class meeting on 7/28/2012, a former Bastrop Resident attended, explaining she moved to Austin due to loosing everything to the wildfires in Bastop/Smithville area last Fall 2011, she wants to act in the feature Austin Free Skool is making.  She wants her character to reflect her experience with the wildfires.
  
I explained how filmmakers were utilizing the burnt forests of Bastrop and surrounding area as locations! 


Together as a class we constructed several scene scenarios for her character in the movie!


Please feel free to involve yourself in any way, shape, or form on Austin Free Skool's feature-length movie! Movie-making is the collaboration of many different people! contact kegmeg@gmail.com for more information

Film-making in the burnt forests of Smithville/Bastrop are: 

Heartless Bastards-Parted Ways Official Video:

the making of Heartless Bastards-Parted Ways Music Video(previous music video):

(these above videos produced by:http://www.thebearmedia.com/)

Courrier-Paper Ghost Official Music Video:

Brainwashed by the Westboro Baptist Church

   We followed the story of the Westboro Baptist Church as families split and children were brainwashed into picketing funerals and bashing homosexuals.

During that time, we interviewed more than a dozen members of the reviled group, including some of the only members not related by blood, the Drains. They welcomed us into their homes and gave us access to 17 years of home video footage. In return, we produced an unbiased look into the lives of one of America's most despised organizations.

Brainwashed by the Westboro Baptist Church (Part 1/2)

Brainwashed by the Westboro Baptist Church (Part 2/2)

(source=http://www.vice.com/Fringes/cult-kids-westboro-part-1)

NORTH KOREAN LABOR CAMPS from Vice News

      North Korea has come up with a new way to bring cold hard cash into its isolated country: export North Korean workers to slave away in the Siberian forest (often without telling them they're no longer in North Korea). We set out to investigate these camps and almost landed ourselves in quite a bit of trouble.

Founder of VICE Shane Smith spends an eternity on a train and hops out at the end of the line in Siberia to investigate logging camps that use North Korean slave labor.

While on his way to uncover labor camps setup by Kim Jong Il and North Korea as a way to bring in hard currency for their impoverished nation, Shane Smith gets re-accustomed with how to handle Russian alcoholics aboard the trans-Siberian railway.

After many days on trains and much vodka Shane arrives in Tynda but has to dodge the Russian secret police – the FSB. After sidestepping the authorities and boarding a single carriage train to the middle of nowhere Shane arrives at a Nortth Korean labor camp.

Accompanied by the former chief of police Shane and Simon break into a disbanded North Korean labor camp to explore the propaganda and the “Laboratory of Kim Jong Il”. On their way out with their arms full of “memorabilia” Shane and Simon fear that they’ve been caught but end up being introduced to a real North Korean labor worker by two Russian scrap metal dealers.

Shane and Simon head off to Tataul and link up with a member of the local mafia known as “The Fish”. From there they drive out into the forest and into an active North Korean labor camp in the middle of Siberia where they meet North Korean workers who inadvertently admit that living conditions back in their homeland were tough- something that would never of be mentioned back in their police-state.

More adventures in the middle of nowhere; Shane and Simon are introduced to more North Korean workers by their gold-teethed guide. Here they find out that many workers are being stationed in the camps for upto 10 years but the conversation halts when the managers or the logging camp arrive.

The FSB (Russian secret police), North Korean secret police and the local militia all decide to find out what Shane has been getting upto, so the only logical thing to do is make a run for the border.

(source=http://www.vice.com/vice-news/north-korean-labor-camps-full-length)

THE VICE GUIDE TO NORTH KOREA

Vice founder Shane Smith managed to get into North Korea after a year and half of trying and is witness to the craziness of this hermit nation.
Crazy is actually kind of an understatement. Made before North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died, his 25 yr old son now leads.

Getting into North Korea was one of the hardest and weirdest processes VBS has ever dealt with.

From the authors: After we went back and forth with their representatives for months, they finally said they were going to allow 16 journalists into the country to cover the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang.

Then, ten days before we were supposed to go, they said, No, nobody can come. Then they said, OK, OK, you can come. But only as tourists. We had no idea what that was supposed to mean. They already knew we were journalists, and over there if you get caught being a journalist when you’re supposed to be a tourist you go to jail.

We don’t like jail. And we’re willing to bet we’d hate jail in North Korea. But we went for it. The first leg of the trip was a flight into northern China.

At the airport, the North Korean consulate took our passports and all of our money, then brought us to a restaurant. We were sitting there with our tour group, and suddenly all the other diners left and these women came out and started singing North Korean nationalist songs.

We were thinking, Look, we were just on a plane for 20 hours. We’re jet-lagged. Can we just go to bed? but this guy with our group who was from the LA Times told us, Everyone in here besides us is secret police. If you don’t act excited then you’re not going to get your visa.

So we got drunk and jumped up on stage and sang songs with the girls. The next day we got our visas. A lot of people we had gone with didn’t get theirs. That was our first hint at just what a freaky, freaky trip we were embarking on.

THE VICE GUIDE TO NORTH KOREA - PART 1

THE VICE GUIDE TO NORTH KOREA - PART 2

THE VICE GUIDE TO NORTH KOREA - PART 3

Propaganda

         On a trip to visit family in Seoul in April, I was approached by a man and a woman who claimed to be North Korean defectors. They presented me with a DVD that recently came into their possession and asked me to translate it. They also asked me to post the completed film on the Internet so that it could reach a worldwide audience. I believed what I was told and an agreement was made to protect their identities (and mine).

Despite my concerns about what I was viewing when I returned home, I proceeded to translate and post the film on You Tube because of the film’s extraordinary content. I have now made public my belief that this film was never intended for a domestic audience in the DPRK. Instead, I believe that these people, who presented themselves as ‘defectors’ specifically targeted me because of my reputation as a translator and interpreter.

Furthermore, I now believe these people work for the DPRK. The fact that I have continued to translate and post the film in spite of this belief does not make me complicit in their intention to spread their ideology. I chose to keep posting this film because – regardless of who made it – I believe people should see it because of the issues it raises and I stand by my right to post it for people to share and discuss freely with each other.

According to Sabine the above is the formal statement she gave to Federal Police on 16 June 2012.

Sabine: I have translated this film, laid in the English voice over and subtitles, and on legal advice have blurred the identity of the presenter and/or blacked out certain elements.

(source=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/propaganda/)

Watch the full documentary now

 North Korea kidnapped filmmakers, chefs, and others in the late 70s/early 80s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Sang-ok

Lego Art (more coming..)

Comedy pART 2 (more coming)

stereotypes=expectations, I asked the class what they thought about stereotypes, if satire still reenforces stereotypes?

breaking expectations is a comedic device!

http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/milesgl/comicdvs.htm

http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/film/lessonplan2.html

We have all become paranoid weird0s like Richard Nixon!

      Here is Adam Curtis's short mini doc on the psyche of Richard Nixon and how modern journalism has by accident made us all a little like him. This was made for Charlie Brookers Newswipe.


To see more Adam Curtis documentaries go here http://www.rewtube.com/

Filmmaking used to announce,inform & explain

A gun that shoots salts and kills flies!!

Its like a shotgun that fires salt
After I personally contacted the maker this is what he sent me "Our indiegogo page went viral because of it--we raised $28,000 on our campaign in the last 24 hours. We'd be thrilled to send you one of our Limited Edition (signed) BugASalt guns (there are only 50, so hold onto it!) and a regular one to use and abuse. Where can we send it?
If there are any other blogs you're affiliated with, we'd be grateful for you posting the video elsewhere.

Thanks again,
Lorenzo (Inventor and Owner of BugASalt/SKELL INC.)"

How Bruce Lee Changed the World

       The History Channel’s How Bruce Lee Changed the World explores the amazing multitude of ways that Bruce Lee – the first international Asian superstar–has influenced pop culture. Calling Lee the biggest movie star in history is a bit of a stretch (though every shot of this hypnotically charismatic performer argues that he might have been, had he not died abruptly before the release of his fourth and most successful movie, Enter the Dragon).

A wealth of interviewees, ranging from filmmakers like Jackie Chan (who was a stunt man on Lee’s movies in his early career), John Woo, and Brett Ratner, comedians like Eddie Griffin and Margaret Cho, musicians like LL Cool J, RZA, and Damon Albarn, athletes like boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and bodybuilder Flex Wheeler, and more, testify to the enormous impression Lee had on them.

The documentary overreaches at some points, but there’s no denying that Lee brought martial arts movies to the West and redefined the image of Asian men in the public consciousness (before him, Asian men were fiends like Fu Manchu, servants, or buffoons).

Lee’s life history is efficiently told and some of the details are delightful–who would have guessed Lee was a champion cha-cha dancer in Hong Kong? His audition for The Green Hornet reveals a movie star just waiting to be discovered. The man himself–lithe and muscular, capable of astonishing speed and grace, radiating both intelligence and passion–makes all commentary unnecessary.

Watch the full documentary now (playlist)

  

source=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/how-bruce-lee-changed-world/

The Cove

The Cove begins in Taiji, Japan, where former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry has come to set things right after a long search for redemption. In the 1960s, it was O’Barry who captured and trained the 5 dolphins who played the title character in the international television sensation Flipper.

But his close relationship with those dolphins – the very dolphins who sparked a global fascination with trained sea mammals that continues to this day – led O’Barry to a radical change of heart. One fateful day, a heartbroken Barry came to realize that these deeply sensitive, highly intelligent and self-aware creatures so beautifully adapted to life in the open ocean must never be subjected to human captivity again. This mission has brought him to Taiji, a town that appears to be devoted to the wonders and mysteries of the sleek, playful dolphins and whales that swim off their coast.

But in a remote, glistening cove, surrounded by barbed wire and “Keep Out” signs, lies a dark reality. It is here, under cover of night, that the fishermen of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and an underhanded market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in an unseen hunt. The nature of what they do is so chilling – and the consequences are so dangerous to human health – they will go to great lengths to halt anyone from seeing it.

The Cove is directed by Louie Psihoyos and produced by Paula DuPre Pesman and Fisher Stevens. The film is written by Mark Monroe. The executive producer is Jim Clark and the co-producer is Olivia Ahnemann.

Watch the full documentary now (playlist).



Part 1

La Calera (The Cove) 1/5 by maseo184

Part 2

La Calera (The Cove) 2/5 by maseo184

Part 3

La Calera (The Cove) 3/5 by maseo184


Part 4

La Calera (The Cove) 4/5 by maseo184


Part 5

La Calera (The Cove) 5/5 by maseo184

(source=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/cove/)

Comedy Part 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy

http://www.break.com/index/indoor-horse-riding-fitness-equipment-2351035

AOKIGAHARA SUICIDE FOREST

       WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS IMAGERY OF REAL DEAD PEOPLE!!! The Aokigahara Forest is the most popular site for suicides in Japan. After the novel Kuroi Jukai was published, in which a young lover commits suicide in the forest, people started taking their own lives there at a rate of 50 to 100 deaths a year. The site holds so many bodies that the Yakuza pays homeless people to sneak into the forest and rob the corpses. The authorities sweep for bodies only on an annual basis, as the forest sits at the base of Mt. Fuji and is too dense to patrol more frequently. 

Originally released in 2011 at http://vice.com Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. 
Watch the last VICE Presents here: http://bit.ly/VICE-Presents-011

THE BUSINESS OF WAR - PART 1,2,3&4

          Worldwide, battles are raging between governments and rebels, drug cartels and gangs. But where do all the weapons come from? In this report the frightening reality of the international arms trade comes to light. Walking through the huge complex in the middle of the Jordanian desert, you could be at a car sales show. Flashy posters advertise new models and eager salesman compete for attention: but they are selling deadly weapons. Just outside the hall filled with endless stalls selling M16s and Javelin rockets, they've even got a training centre where you can go and try them all out. "For a state, it's easy. For a terrorist or a criminal organization it's more difficult", a defense industry journalist explains. Over the week more than 12,000 attendees visit this brainchild of King Abdullah II, whose biggest sponsor is the USA."It's weird. Everybody's real cordial with each other. But at the end of the day, we're buying weapons to destroy each other with", a US marine says. SOFEX: THE BUSINESS OF WAR - PART 1 SOFEX: SOFEX: THE BUSINESS OF WAR - PART 2 SOFEX: SOFEX: THE BUSINESS OF WAR - PART 3 SOFEX: THE BUSINESS OF WAR - PART 4

Philosophy: Guide to Happiness

We tend to accept that people in authority must be right. It’s this assumption that Socrates wanted us to challenge by urging us to think logically about the nonsense they often come out with, rather than being struck dumb by their aura of importance and air of suave certainty.

This six part series on philosophy is presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton, featuring six thinkers who have influenced history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life.

Socrates on Self-Confidence (Part 1) – Why do so many people go along with the crowd and fail to stand up for what they truly believe? Partly because they are too easily swayed by other people’s opinions and partly because they don’t know when to have confidence in their own.

Epicurus on Happiness (Part 2) – British philosopher Alain De Botton discusses the personal implications of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270BCE) who was no epicurean glutton or wanton consumerist, but an advocate of “friends, freedom and thought” as the path to happiness.

Seneca on Anger (Part 3) – Roman philosopher Lucious Annaeus Seneca (4BCE-65CE), the most famous and popular philosopher of his day, took the subject of anger seriously enough to dedicate a whole book to the subject. Seneca refused to see anger as an irrational outburst over which we have no control. Instead he saw it as a philosophical problem and amenable to treatment by philosophical argument.

Montaigne on Self-Esteem (Part 4) – Looks at the problem of self-esteem from the perspective of Michel de Montaigne (16th Century), the French philosopher who singled out three main reasons for feeling bad about oneself – sexual inadequecy, failure to live up to social norms, and intellectual inferiority – and then offered practical solutions for overcoming them.

Schopenhauer on Love (Part 5) – Alain De Botton surveys the 19th Century German thinker Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) who believed that love was the most important thing in life because of its powerful impulse towards ‘the will-to-life’.

Nietzsche on Hardship (Part 6) – British philosopher Alain De Botton explores Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844-1900) dictum that any worthwhile achievements in life come from the experience of overcoming hardship. For him, any existence that is too comfortable is worthless, as are the twin refugees of drink or religion.
source=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/philosophy-guide-to-happiness/

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 2 hours, 25 minutes)

The Century of the Self

      This series is about how those in power have used Freud’s theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, changed the perception of the human mind and its workings profoundly.

His influence on the 20th century is widely regarded as massive. The documentary describes the impact of Freud’s theories on the perception of the human mind, and the ways public relations agencies and politicians have used this during the last 100 years for their engineering of consent. Among the main characters are Freud himself and his nephew Edward Bernays, who was the first to use psychological techniques in advertising. He is often seen as the father of the public relations industry.

Freud’s daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in the second part, as well as Wilhelm Reich, one of the main opponents of Freud’s theories. Along these general themes, The Century of the Self asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality.

Happiness Machines. Part one documents the story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays who invented Public Relations in the 1920s, being the first person to take Freud’s ideas to manipulate the masses.

The Engineering of Consent. Part two explores how those in power in post-war America used Freud’s ideas about the unconscious mind to try and control the masses. Politicians and planners came to believe Freud’s underlying premise that deep within all human beings were dangerous and irrational desires.

There is a Policeman Inside All of Our Heads, He Must Be Destroyed. In the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence of Freudian ideas, which lead to the creation of a new political movement that sought to create new people, free of the psychological conformity that had been implanted in people’s minds by business and politics.

Eight People Sipping Wine In Kettering. This episode explains how politicians turned to the same techniques used by business in order to read and manipulate the inner desires of the masses. Both New Labor with Tony Blair and the Democrats led by Bill Clinton, used the focus group which had been invented by psychoanalysts in order to regain power.
sorce=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-century-of-the-self/

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 3 hours, 55 minutes)

The End of Poverty

Global poverty did not just happen. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor.

Today, the problem persists because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies – in other words, wealthy countries taking advantage of poor, developing countries.

Renowned actor and activist, Martin Sheen, narrates The End of Poverty, a feature-length documentary directed by award-winning director, Philippe Diaz, which explains how today’s financial crisis is a direct consequence of these unchallenged policies that have lasted centuries.

Consider that 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate.

At this rate, to maintain our lifestyle means more and more people will sink below the poverty line. Filmed in the slums of Africa and the barrios of Latin America, The End of Poverty features expert insights from: Nobel prize winners in Economics, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz; acclaimed authors Susan George, Eric Toussaint, John Perkins, Chalmers Johnson; university professors William Easterly and Michael Watts; government ministers such as Bolivia’s Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and the leaders of social movements in Brazil, Venezuela, Kenya and Tanzania.

It is produced by Cinema Libre Studio in collaboration with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation. Can we really end poverty within our current economic system? Think again.

(source=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/end-of-poverty/)

Watch the full documentary now

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace

       A series of films about how humans have been colonized by the machines they have built. Although we don’t realize it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers. It claims that computers have failed to liberate us and instead have distorted and simplified our view of the world around us.

1. Love and Power. This is the story of the dream that rose up in the 1990s that computers could create a new kind of stable world. They would bring about a new kind global capitalism free of all risk and without the boom and bust of the past. They would also abolish political power and create a new kind of democracy through the Internet where millions of individuals would be connected as nodes in cybernetic systems – without hierarchy.

2. The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts. This is the story of how our modern scientific idea of nature, the self-regulating ecosystem, is actually a machine fantasy. It has little to do with the real complexity of nature. It is based on cybernetic ideas that were projected on to nature in the 1950s by ambitious scientists. A static machine theory of order that sees humans, and everything else on the planet, as components – cogs – in a system.

3. The Monkey in the Machine and the Machine in the Monkey. This episode looks at why we humans find this machine vision so beguiling. The film argues it is because all political dreams of changing the world for the better seem to have failed – so we have retreated into machine-fantasies that say we have no control over our actions because they excuse our failure.

Adam Curtis is a documentary film maker, whose work includes The Power of Nightmares,The Century of the Self, The Mayfair Set, Pandora’s Box, The Trap and The Living Dead.

(source= http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/all-watched-over-by-machines-of-loving-grace/)


                      Love and Power

at 34:56 in part 1, great quotes and commentary about "spilling our guts on-line and being commodified" by Carmen Hermosillo.
       
The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts.




The Monkey in the Machine and the Machine in the Monkey.