“Bikes vs Cars” at SXSW Music, Film, Interactive
March 16, 2015 § Leave a comment
SXSW Music, Film, Interactive in Austin, Texas is in full swing.
Interactive: March 13-17
Film: March 13-21
Music: March 17-22
Tonight: Documentary Spotlight:
“Bikes vs Cars”
Republik Square Park
442 Guadalupe Street
Austin, Texas
March 15, 2015
7:45pm-9:15pm
Swedish Director: Fredrik Gertten
Sweden: #1 GREENEST Country in the world.
Stockholm #3 GREENEST City in the world.
Most American automobile commuters spend 55 working days in traffic every year, 1-3 hours per day, and 25% of their income on transportation costs, while 50% of their car trips are less than 3 miles long.
“Bikes vs Cars” is a terrific documentary which demonstrates just how draining and straining automobile traffic is in heavily populated cities like Los Angeles and Sao Paolo, Brazil, and just how easy and well accepted commuting by bicycle is in bike captial cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Berlin. For example, in Copenhagen, Denmark, there are 1000 kilometers of bike lanes and 4 out of 5 people own a bike. 40% of the entire city commutes on bicycles, while in Los Angeles, California, only 0.8% commute by bike.
How many people dislike driving, traffic jams, the cost of parking, gas, tolls, registration, insurance, and maintenance, yet have no other public transportation options?
Los Angeles: Year: 1900, the Great California Cycleway was a boardwalk built for bicycles.
The trolley car system also allowed people to travel around Los Angeles with ease.
Why and when were these options illiminated and by who? Why were they in favor of constructing freeways? What percentage of Los Angeles is currently dedicated to roads and parking?
Bicyclist advocates, Raquel Rolnik, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo’s School of Architecture and Urbanism Department, Don Ward, organizer of L.A.’s ‘Wolfpack Hustle,’ the underground bicycling club known for their midnight rides, and Dan Koeppel, who founded and organized ‘The Big Parade,’ a two-day community walking event in Los Angeles, discuss urban sprawl, bicycle activism, and ways to improve the environment.
“They keep building the freeways wider and wider, 6-12 lanes wide, thinking that the traffic will improve, but it only keeps getting worse and worse.”
Are cars still a status symbol? What does your car say about you? Are you single? married? Wealthy? How much does the automobile industry spend on advertising? How many electric cars have they sold? What percentage of cars will be sold to the millennial generation over the next 5-6 years, and what type of cars will they be interested in? How many cars are there are on the planet, and how many will there be in the year 2020? Which automobiles emit the most Carbon Dioxide, and which are the most efficient? Why is it so difficult to change urban planning to be more bike and eco-friendly? What was the Carmageddon weekend really like for bike riders, the air quality and pollution? and What’s really in the bike vs car dilemma for the politicians and oil companies?
If you reduce the number of cars by making it more expensive for them, reduce the amount of lanes, reduce the parking, increase the prices, add toll roads, and pressure politicians, will the traffic congestion get better or worse?
“Bikes vs Cars” will answer all of these questions.
Article by Sharon Abella
One World Cinema
http://1worldcinema.com
“The Salt of the Earth”/ “Le Sel de la Terre”
March 13, 2015 § Leave a comment
Award winning photographer and ‘witness of the human condition,’ Sebastiao Salgado, has traveled the world a few times over capturing photographs for his books:
Other Americas: 1977-1984 – The People of the Andes Mountains, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, his homeland, Brazil, and Mexico.
Sahel: The End of the Road: 1984-1986 – Capturing Drought, Famine, and Disease in Niger, Mali, and Ethiopia.
Workers: 1986-1991 – Archeology of Industrial Areas. Paying homage to the men and women who build the world. Travel to the oil fields in Kuwait.
Exodus: 1993-1999 – Refugees-The displacement of entire populations by wars, famine and the rules of the global marketplace. Burundi, Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Croatia, and Serbia.
Genesis: 2004-2013 – Landscapes and wildlife- a more optimistic view of the Earth’s regeneration.
Photos by Sebastiao Salgado courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Directed by Wim Wenders/”Buena Vista Social Club,” along with Sebastiao’s son, Julian Ribeiro Salgado, “The Salt of the Earth,” captures Sebastiao’s mesmerizing, soul-fulfilling life. He gave up a well paid career as an economist to become a photographer instead.
Traveling to remote areas of South America, Wrangel Island, Russia, Bangladesh, India, Kuwait, Vietnam, Palestine, Philippines, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia, Galapagos, and Africa, he found his true calling capturing remote societies, nature, famine, working class people, the Earth’s regeneration, and his own family.
“The Salt of the Earth” opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, March 27, 2015.
One World Cinema
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“Still Alice” Academy Award Winning Performance-Julianne Moore confronts Alzheimer’s Disease
March 8, 2015 § Leave a comment
Common questions- What is Dementia? What is Alzheimer’s Disease?
The older adult population is growing by nearly 1.6 million a year, an increase projected to continue over the next 20 years. People older than age 65 represented 12.4% of the population in the year 2000 but their number is expected to grow to 19% of the population by 2030. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2030, there will be about 72.1 million older persons age 65 and older, more than twice their number in 2000. There were an estimated 5.2 million Americans with dementia in 2014.
Dementia is a syndrome characterized by generalized cognitive deterioration. Dementia results in changes in behavior, perception, memory, problem-solving abilities and judgment that interfere with normal daily routines and functions. Dementia may be reversible or irreversible, although many illnesses with a dementia component are progressive and fatal. In the older adult, dementia is a complicated health issue because it has multiple causes, presents in many different ways, is difficult to recognize and varies in duration.
Many conditions lead to dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common, accounting for 60% to 80% of all cases. Dementia caused by AD is irreversible. It has an insidious onset, gradual progression and is fatal, usually within eight to 10 years from diagnosis.
Alzheimer’s Disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time.
In Alzheimer’s Disease, changes in the brain’s structures occur with the formation of plaques, tangles and neuronal loss. Although the cause is unknown, scientists speculate that genetic predisposition, head injuries, viruses and toxins may predispose a person to disease development. Some data suggest that risk factors such as obesity, smoking, physical inactivity, diabetes and poor nutrition also increase chances of acquiring the disease. by Annette Kelly, PhD, ARNP
This 4-minute video, Inside the Brain: Unraveling the Mystery of Alzheimer’s Disease, shows the intricate mechanisms involved in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain. -National Institue on Aging
In the opening scene of “Still Alice,” Alice Howland (Julianne Moore), is surrounded by her husband, two of three of their children (-son, who is a doctor, -daughter, who is an attorney, and her son-in-law, Charlie), to celebrate Alice’s birthday at an upscale restaurant in New York City.
Ironically, Alice, who is a professor of linguistics at Columbia University, has always been defined by her intellect, language, and articulation, and begins having difficulty recalling names, faces, words, and locations. While giving a lecture at UCLA, she has difficulty with word and thought retrieval-“memory and computation, that is the essence of communication.”
While out in LA, she visits her daughter, Lydia (played by Kristen Stewart), who is acting in a theater company that is being funded by her father. Her mother worries about her and wants her to attend college and take courses that will lead to a steady career.
From there, you observe Alice struggle with forgetfulness, loss, coping, shame, career and familial relationships.
“On good days, I can almost pass for a normal person. On bad days, I feel like I can’t find myself. I can see words hanging in front of me, and I can’t reach them, and I don’t know what I’m going to lose next.”
In theaters.
Article by Sharon Abella
One World Cinema
“Farewell to Hollywood” – A young woman, who loves movies, decides to document her experience as she battles osteosarcoma at age 16.
February 10, 2015 § Leave a comment
The Life and Death of Reggie Nicholson
A documentary film directed by Henry Corra and Reggie Nicholson
Opens in NYC – Wednesday, February 25 -on Reggie’s birthday at Cinema Village
Opens in LA – Friday, March 13- Noho 7
One and a half months after her 16th birthday, Regina Diane Nicholson, from Long Beach, California, was diagnosed with an osteosarcoma, a malignant, cancerous, bone tumor that usually develops in teenagers and young adults when they are growing rapidly. Many first complain of pain which may be worse at night. Those active in sports, may complain of pain in their lower femur, or right below their knee. A pathological bone fracture may also be a first sign or symptom, as the bones may not be as strong as they normally would be.
Regina, or Reggie, handles her diagnosis with maturity and humor, and seeing as she has a passion for films and filmmaking, decides to document her experience, the disease process, and the impact it has on her family, friends, and healthcare providers.
In her film, “Farewell to Hollywood,” she compares the anguish she is experiencing, to the intensity, rawness, and violence exhibited in Quentin Tarantino’s, “Pulp Fiction,” often cutting to scenes from the 1994, action thriller. A film enthusiast through and through, Reggie has film posters all over her bedroom walls and even “Made a Wish” with the “Make a Wish” Foundation and was allowed to be an extra on the film set of Kevin Smith’s’ “Red State”.
Good natured, with only good intentions demonstrated in the film, Film Director, and co-director of “Farewell to Hollywood,” Henry Corra, met the then 17 year old filmmaker, Regina (Reggie) Nicholson at a film festival, and agreed to help her make her feature film. When Reggie turned 18, her parents had conflicting emotions about her becoming an adult and her desire to branch out, creating an independent life for herself. This would mean she would be moving out of their house, getting her own living and work space, completing the film, all the while, continuing to receive treatment while documenting. Everyone handles stress differently.
The film carries the viewer through the difficult decisions that this young adult female has to make. You will see how she copes, the medications that she chooses to take, the surgeries she chooses to undergo, what and who makes her happy, who she appoints as her healthcare proxy, and how she and her caretaker decide to carry out her end of life care. The film should raise awareness to the fact that we should all appoint a healthcare proxy (someone who would make healthcare decisions for you in the event you are unable to make them yourself), even at a young age.
In the film, she often shows herself swinging on a swing over a cliff and the sea in Southern California, where she appears to be very free and happy.
Regina was a very brave woman who knew who and what made her happy, and how to live life to the fullest.
This award-winning documentary has screened at numerous international film festivals including IDFA, Hot Springs Doc Fest and Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
Once again, the film will open in New York at Cinema Village on Wednesday, February 25 , 2015 (the day of Reggie Nicholson’s birthday),
and at the Noho 7 in Los Angeles on Friday, March 13, 2015.
A national release will follow.
One World Cinema
Song One -opens at the Angelika in NYC, on demand, and on itunes on Jan 23, 2015
January 19, 2015 § Leave a comment
‘Song One’ is an 88 minute Brooklyn summer romance-indie-hipster drama starring Oscar winner Anne Hathaway (Franny), and West London folk singer, Johnny Flynn (James Forester). Franny, who is studying for her PhD in anthropology in Morocco, receives a call from her mother stating that her brother, Henry, has been hit by a car crossing the street, is in a coma in the hospital, and asks that she return to NYC. Franny visits her brother in the hospital often, and by searching through his belongings, listening to songs he has played, musical videos he has recorded, and journal entries he has written, gets to know what his likes are and where his interests lie. She stumbles upon an unused ticket for a musician that he really respects, James Forester, at the Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street on June 1, 2013. She attends the show, and approaches the acoustic guitarist/violinist at the end, asking him if he might have known Henry personally. James did not know Henry personally, however, demonstrates empathy, and visits Franny, while she is visiting Henry in the hospital. Franny and James begin reliving her brother’s Williamsburg musical lifestyle, while recording sounds of NYC that he might be familiar with, meanwhile, continuing to visit him in a coma, playing the recordings for him, and getting to know one another on a deeper, more personal level.
ITUNES BUY LINK:
Album Preview (30 second snippets from the album) –
“In April” Lyric Video –
Album Preview –
“In April” Full Song – https://soundcloud.com/lakeshore-records/song-one-in-april-johnny-flynn
The movie is cute.
One World Cinema
“Ballet 422”
January 9, 2015 § Leave a comment
Ballet 422, directed by Jody Lee Lipes, opens in New York at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and the Landmark Sunshine Cinema, on Friday, February 6th, 2015.
Have you ever wondered how a ballet gets created, the costumes get designed, the timing is mastered, and the pointe shoes get sewn on?
Ballet 422, transports you backstage to the making of the New York City 422nd ballet, “Paz de la Jolla,” set to the musical composition by Bohuslav Martinu from 1950, “Sinfonietta La Jolla.”
Founded in 1948, the NYC Ballet staffs a full orchestra, costume shop, lighting department, production crew and 91 full time dancers. 25 year old, Justin Peck, has been a member of the NYC Ballet since 2007, and was commissioned to choreograph the only new ballet in the 2013 winter season, with only 2 months to prepare.
Justin Peck: “My whole process of choreography is based on the music exposing the details, the complexities, and the textures of the orchestra.”
Observe the elite principal dancers (Sterling Hyltin, Tiler Peck, and Amar Ramasar), practice their:
Pas de Chat’s (‘the step of the cat’ The dancer jumps sideways, and while in mid-air, bends both legs up (two retirés) bringing the feet up as high as possible, with knees apart),
Grand Jete’s (a split in the air),
Pas de trois (a dance by three dancers),
Passe’s (placing or passing the working foot near the knee of the supporting leg. When passing by the knee, the foot passes from front to back or back to front and then may slide down the supporting leg to the floor or transition into a position such as arabesque or attitude),
Arabesque’s (A body position in which a dancer stands on one leg (the supporting leg) with the other leg (the working leg) turned out and extended behind the body, with both legs held straight),
and
Assemble’s (A jump that lands on two feet).
Two months, two weeks, one week, as the premiere of “Paz de la Jolla” draws closer, the film reflects back on all the hard work and practice rehearsals that it took to lead up to the big night.
How will it be received?
Heavenly!
One World Cinema
http://1worldcinema.com
SELMA! 8 NAACP and 4 Golden Globe nominations
December 20, 2014 § Leave a comment
As people continue to protest and march across the Brooklyn Bridge fighting for African American human rights and dignity 50 years later, sadly, Selma continues to ring true. The Director of Selma, Ava DuVernay http://www.avaduvernay.com/, majored in English and African American studies at UCLA, and has broken the glass ceiling, as she becomes the first African American woman nominated for Best Director at the Golden Globes.
The film illustrates the time period when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led his followers on three historic marches from Selma, Alabama, to the state’s capital, Montgomery, with the hopes that African Americans would one day win the right to vote and serve on juries.
The movie begins in 1964, as Dr. King, Jr., and his wife, Coretta Scott King, are getting ready to attend the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway. Dr. King expresses guilt that he and his wife are in black tie attire while folks back home are suffering.
(Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)
Having met with President Johnson directly, Dr. King asked him to change the law to allow African Americans the right to vote, and was told, ‘voting has to wait, I want to fight the war on poverty first.’ So, as with most things in life, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which became effective on August 6, 1965, did not come easy.
From March 7-25, 1965, he led followers on various marches to raise awareness, however, often times, violence broke out between the police and the protestors.
Along with his sermons, the marching scenes are some of the most powerful in the movie.
(Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures)
For a timeline of the historical facts:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/us/1965-selma-to-montgomery-march-fast-facts/
David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is confident and fierce.
4/5 stars
One World Cinema
http://1worldcinema.com
Elephant Poaching- A short film by Katherine Bigelow
December 10, 2014 § Leave a comment
http://www.lastdaysofivory.com/
“Last Days” is only 3 minutes long, yet is fierce and brave. Save the elephants.
ABOUT WILDAID
WildAid is the only organization to focus on reducing the demand for wildlife products. WildAid works with hundreds of Asian and Western political figures, celebrities and business leaders, including the Duke of Cambridge, Yao Ming, Jackie Chan, Edward Norton and Sir Richard Branson, to dissuade people from purchasing endangered wildlife products. WildAid’s public service messages and educational initiatives reach hundreds of millions of people per week in China alone through donated media space. “When the buying stops, the killing can too.”
ABOUT ANNAPURNA PICTURES
Annapurna Pictures is a film production and finance company founded with the goal of boldly creating sophisticated, high-quality and ambitious films that appeal to a variety of audiences. Under Megan Ellison’s guidance, Annapurna has provided the industry with a critical boost of intelligent, adult dramas in recent years. Currently in theaters is Bennett Miller’s Cannes and Toronto Film Festival hit film FOXCATCHER starring Channing Tatum, Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo. Annapurna’s projects from 2013 alone earned 17 Academy Award nominations and made Ellison the first woman to earn two Best Picture nominations in the same year with her nominations for AMERICAN HUSTLE and HER. Annapurna’s past releases include David O. Russell’s Golden Globe winning and Academy Award nominated AMERICAN HUSTLE, Spike Jonze’s Golden Globe and Academy Award winning HER, Bigelow’s Academy Award nominated ZERO DARK THIRTY, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s multiple Golden Globe and Academy Award nominated THE MASTER. Annapurna will also reteam with Bigelow on a film based on the non-fiction book, The True American.
One World Cinema
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“Unbroken” Directed by Angelina Jolie
December 6, 2014 § Leave a comment
Kathryn Bigelow and Angelina Jolie have been successfully directing war films for the past 5 or so years: The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, In the Land of Blood and Honey, and now, Unbroken, while Christiane Amanpour’s war correspondences from the frontlines, still hold strong.
What will it take to break a man? How much can one man take?
In “Unbroken,” the latest film directed by Angelina Jolie, Jack O’Connell (‘Starred Up’ and ”71′), portrays Louis Zamperini, an Italian man who was first tormented by boys on the playground when he was young, and then by prison guards, while he was held captive as a POW in Japanese prison camps during WWII. In between the two stages of his life, he found success as a track runner and Olympic athlete.
Can Louis persevere, or will he give up hope, as he has many reasons to falter? Can the thought of his mother’s gnocchi recipe carry him through difficult situations? Is there a grand plan?
It almost seems too difficult to imagine that one person could endure as much as Louis did, as he was repeatedly punched, kicked, verbally abused, crashing, stranded, fighting for survival, screamed at, told that he needs to learn respect, and that he is nothing.
Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
Can his Italian spirit help him through?
Q&A
Angelina Jolie (poised and smiling):
“The entire cast got to meet Louis. Louis Zamperini was full of life and spirit, and I hope the film lives up to him, and remembers him for how extraordinary, intelligent and well-educated he was. I hope the film lives up to all of these great people.”
The Character of Francis ‘Mac’ McNamara, played by Finn Wittrock:
“A lot of us might not have strength when faced with life and death situations. Hope in the time of despair. It was an examination of the the mind/body relationship.”
The Character of ‘Bird’ or Mutsushiro Watanabe (the abusive prison guard), played by Takamasa Ishihara:
“I didn’t want to represent Japan in a negative light. The book was not translated into Japanese, and it is controversial. I was scared to tackle this role, as it is risky. The story is not a war story, so much as it is a story about forgiveness and how strong one man can be. ‘Bird’ had issues with his father, and released his evil feelings through torture. Louie had everything that ‘Bird’ wanted. Bird knew he was losing.”
Angelina Jolie:
“The actors could never demonstrate what the actual men went through in real life. Louis Zamparini held that beam over his head for 37 minutes, and was unable to explain what took over.
Louis saw a rough cut of the film on a laptop in his hospital bed before his death on July 2, 2014.”
3.5/5 stars
Will Roger Deakins, DP, win his first Oscar?
One World Cinema
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Kendal Mountain Festival, Film Festival for Outdoor Enthusiasts
November 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
Kendal Mountain Film Festival for Outdoor Enthusiasts is in it’s 15th straight year and is held in the Lakes District in Cumbria County, UK, Thursday- Sunday, November 20-23, 2014.
Covering all aspects of mountain and adventure sports culture, the film genres shown at ‘KMF’ include wildlife, outdoor sports, and environmental documentaries. Their vision is to encourage more people to explore the great outdoors.
Every single film being shown this weekend looks AMAZING!
http://www.mountainfest.co.uk/film.
Cumbria, home to the Lakes District, England’s largest National Park, and perhaps the most idyllic countryside in the UK, is also renown for the illustrations and writings of English author, Beatrix Potter (July 28, 1866- December 22, 1943), and her children’s books about animals and the British landscape (The Tale of Peter Rabbit). She is credited with preserving much of the land that now comprises the Lake District National Park. ‘Miss Potter,’ starring Renee Zellweger, is a lovely film depicting the life of Beatrix Potter.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrix-potter-gallery.
This beautiful area spans over 40 miles and is home to the famous Lake Windermere.
“The Hunt for Hipmasama,” directed, produced, and edited by UK surfer, Oli Adams, is just one of the great films being shown this weekend.
Professional surfer, Oli Adams, had a photo of a perfect wave. After years of inquiring as to who took the photo and where the location was, he finally figured it out and was invited to his home to surf this remote, isolated island inhabited by only 50 people. His name (last name is not disclosed as to probably protect the anonymity of the unchartered surf spot), is Andy. Andy lives the surfers dream, riding uncrowded, perfectly barrelled, beautiful, naturesque, picturesque waves, all alone. Oli realizes the risk involved, as there is no one really around to help out in the event of a problem. There is no real transportation off the island to the mainland, if need be. Ferries that do arrive, only do so, once a week, if that, as the pier is so small, the weather, unpredictable, and the water, often too choppy to dock, that they may turn around and wait until next week to try again. Cars have to be crane lifted on and off the ferry, as no cars can drive off the boat.
Watch the following professional surfers:
Mitch Corbett
Tom Butler
Mark Harris
Andy
Michah Lester
Ben Skinner
Marcus Lascelles
Fergal Smith
Tom DH
and, of course,
Oli Adams (OliAdams.com)
surf this undisclosed location.
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