Archives For documentary/making-of

Tokyo Film Festival 2009The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF, not to be confused with Toronto LOL) has just announced that Mexican director Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu (Amores Perros, Babel) will be presiding the 22nd edition of the festival to be held from  October 17 to October 25th this year.

Also… like I’ve mentioned before, the Tokyo Film Fest, alongside the Shanghai Film Fest are quickly turning into the most important in the region.

Anyway, as all things West media… when you search for the news, you get the articles talking about how dolphin documentary The Cove wasn’t allowed to open the festival. With titles such as “Will Tokyo Film Fest man up and show The Cove?” or “Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is Tokyo Film Festival.”

That is why I was so disappointed that our film, after winning awards in the last 13 film festivals it had entered, was rejected by the Tokyo Film Festival, whose theme this year is green. Not that it is that much of a shocker, but the main goal for making the film was to shut down the cove in Taijii, Japan, where 2,300 dolphins are killed every year.

Remember that time when Hayden Panettiere got in trouble in Japan for eh… I dunno, swimming with the dolphins?

But you know, dolphins are cute this is why it deserves a documentary (and it will probably win an Oscar for it if the cuteness continues). Penguins are cute too, I admit it (and they also won an Oscar, LOL). But cows aren’t. This is why cows don’t get a documentary, and we all get to eat meat regardless of how they are slaughtered.

I’m usually not a big fan of this one-side documentaries, because I’m pretty sure they won’t show how Taiji sees this as a way to sustain its town. And it will be all about saving the dolphins… and the people saving them. – I’m looking at you Panettiere. xD – I wonder if they give an alternative to sustain the town’s economy, as well as ranting about how people kill dolphins. You know, it’s fine to show the problem, but it’s not much use without a solution. So we stop hunting them, then what? How would they survive? Please, they’d better not suggest “Dolphin Watching” or I’ll shoot myself. As far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t be allowed on “x-animal watching” ever and allow the disturbance in their habitat.

Anyway, this has turned into a rant instead of reporting. LOL

I love eating. I love meat, I can’t live without it. A meal without meat feels not done.

One of the reasons I can’t be a Buddhist – I tried a Buddhist meal once in Hong Kong. So good, but gone so fast. Had to eat again 2hrs. later. Perhaps, I can suggest watching Departures? Things sometimes need to die for you to survive.

Here’s The Cove website.

Here’s a bit more on the Film Festival timeline~~~

Also, when I was 17-ish… I used to sort of look up to PETA, now I just think they’re pretty annoying. Perhaps they should try to change the way they preach. It seems like they just lost something along the way. Like their sanity.

Crap! Now I’m really in the mood for some Sirloin. T-T

Hmm… think it’s like National Geographic in the theater, and Isabella Rossellini in the shape of various different animals. Really… literally.

Green Porno - Isabella Rossellini

Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno series (which I wasn’t aware of) has just released it’s 2nd season. You can watch the first and second season through the Sundance Channel, here.

I particularly thought series2 was better, so that’s actually an improvement! Now, if only classes at school were that visually interesting~~~ *laughs*

LOL’

Kick like a Girl is a 30-min HBO documentary of a team of girls that play (NOT soccer) football that totally creamed the boys in a match… or something.

Back in my school days… I played football. I think I rocked it~~~ as a hobby of course. Back then, girls didn’t rock like this. I wish I had a girls football team T.T

When I was 10-ish, there was a school match… between girls, but I’m pretty sure I was the only one taking it ‘seriously’. I even had my friends over for a practice. You know, I used to play with my cousins… one of those things you do when all your cousins are guys you see~~~

Best in the trailer? The boy admitting getting creamed (in the field) by a girl. And the girl saying “I’m not going to be one of the girly girls, who put on lipgloss everyday, dresses in tutus and goes to ballet.”

Yu Aoi - Kid

What’s wrong with tutus and ballet?

You know… you can still end up like this~

Yu Aoi - Travel Sand

Just in case you don’t know, that’s the same person. ;)

Be like Others - Transsexuals in Iran - BBC Documentary

Over the weekend I saw this documentary by Tanaz Eshaghian that surprised me quite a lot. First of all, I had no idea about Iranian policies on sex reassignment, but this documentary is quite an intriguing look into the lives of homosexual people almost being forced into this operation, in order to regain their rights back.

Some of them go through it, and end up more content with the whole support of their family, but in many situations they face rejection, misunderstanding, and even suffer a lack of attraction from their current partners after the operation.

I decided to share this with a few of my friends, and thought to take advantage of that upload to share with some of you~~ Won’t really feel like re-uploading, but you can try persuading me in a comment. LOL~~~ In the meantime, take advantage of the upload… you just need Pando.

Wikipedia

Download now!

WOWOW + Juri!!!! Exciting!!

As you know, I LOVED WOWOW’s Camouflage with Yu Aoi. *hearts* So the prospect of a WOWOW project with Juri (before she goes off to Europe to film more Nodame – Julz, this is your cue) is NUTZ. The current working title apparently is:
GI~TA~ KE~SU no Onna –> A Girl with a Guitar Case, but you know that could change just like Camouflage switched titles.

As you know, I liked Hito no SEKKUSU (Don’t Laugh at my Romance) and Hyakuman-en (One Million Yen Girl) which had WOWOW attached… of course that might had to do with Yu Aoi as well ~ but these prospects are the same. ^^

ON OTHER NEWS!

There’s a trailer out for Juri’s North India Documentary with NHK on the Jiji no e Tegami project, or Grandfather’s Letters… which in case you didn’t know~~~ Juri has a song for… (just like she has Onara Taisou for Nodame).

The documentary will be on NHK March 20th (Friday) from 8pm to 9.29pm (LOL, 29? haha… sorry). Set your clocks, and I will set my own time… 6am??? GOSH~

[iframe src=”https://www.tudou.com/v/EDrN434X3SY/v.swf” width=”480″ height=”400″]

For more some photos and graphics, head over to Juri’s LJ community.

In light of all those “natalie portman oscar 2009” searches~~ which have been A LOT since yesterday – what’s up with that, by the way? -A Powerful Noise is a documentary following 3 women in Mali, Vietnam, and Bosnia-Herzegovina as they overcome their battles against ignorance, poverty, ethnic strife and oppression.

[iframe width=”560″ height=”349″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/dv2UIrklRoE?rel=0″]

Well, Lainey did a short post on it;

Sigh.

I love her.

She’s involved, interesting, and interested. She’s smart. She’s sassy. She’s funny. She’s SO beautiful. And there’s a grace about Natalie Portman that is intoxicating.

She also does a brief mention to which I totally agree~~

Please!

Ryan Gosling >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Robert Pattinson.

‘Nuff said.

, but need to share this. LOL’

yam001_dec08-cover

Thank you, Nate… for poking my eyes on the voodoo dolls you’ve got stash away. Yes, we’ve done YAM. Please, help yourself to some YAM for Xmas over here

Hope you enjoy.

In the “Lost World,” of course~ LOL

About 2 months ago (a few days later, give or take) I blogged (and try translating) this msg. Now we (I) know why…

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With Independent Spirit Award Nominations just around the corner (Dec. 2) – Awards season pretty much begins~

I haven’t seen many (if any) films to fuzz about… yet. Studios say they trust their films, and all are hoping for December releases. This wasn’t the case last year, when Julie Christie (April) and Marion Cotillard (June) released in the US their films and swept awards.

Waltz with Bashir - PosterPretty much everyone is hoping and fuzzing about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I am too – because let’s face it, it looks cool… it has a good cast, and a great director. From what I could read, this will be the movie to watch… it will be IT.

Nothing else can’t be said, on my behalf…

The animation category will undeniably go to WALL-E, which was good. However, wouldn’t it be interesting if there were other animated films? One of them could be the Israeli-German-French animated production of Waltz with Bashir. I have heard interesting things about it… but could it surprise Oscar watchers? Unlikely. But it will be a good change… just like I thought Les Tiplettes de Belleville should have won, or Persepolis last year~~

Waltz with Bashir, just from the trailer, looks visually interesting. Definitely different to other animated films in subject, theme, and possibly even different animation approach. I also think this poster on the right looks way more intriguing than the other colored poster. Nonetheless, from the same trailer you could see some funkyness with the animation, as if they had used Flash on some sequences (like some of those MTV crappy animated shorts)… and some others looked just splendid.

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Okay… I must blog this because I’ve no idea what’s going on. xD

Yu has updated her blog (Oct 2008 Update ) with the strangest message, EVER. Click here for a quick Google translation.

She is apparently in Caracas, Venezuela – for the not so literate… that’s the capital of Venezuela (where President Hugo Chavez is…) – what in the world is she doing there? I’ve no idea, but she’s not having such a good time. Makes you wonder…

It sounds like she’s in the middle of the jungle… but Caracas, as far as I know it’s a city… like any other. I know people from there~~ And… it’s not that close to the Equator. I’m sure of that, I passed my South American geography tests in school…

Also, water pipes or water is not working? I suppose there’s no electricity? How do we get this message? I’m beginning to suspect Google is not translating properly… or what? Could Yu be in the jungle? What for? Saving rain forest one at a time? New PB? Is she suffering like she seems from this translation?

Can someone translate?

Also… nothing good to eat? Sounds dreadful… and not so PB. She’s up to something, what is it?? I’m sure if she wanted to visit Latin America for its food, she would stop by Peru *hint hint nudge nudge* after all, isn’t Peruvian food known for it’s +400 typical dishes? Plenty to eat, and to photograph I tell you… xD Meh, I’m getting hungry just talking about it… geez~

**EDIT** (almost 4am)
Okay, tried my “own” translation, HA! It seems this update begins OK, here it is (please, feel free to correct):

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