When I do my laundry I always forget to check my jeans' pockets. Hence, often I find the relics of washed hankies when I hang out the clothes. When that happened in Verona, I would shout and swear while opening the washing machine door. I would see bits and pieces of white wet paper all over my black trousers, shirts and underwear. The sticky tiny bits and pieces would disappear only after prolonged and energetic shaking.
Here in London, I realise that I have left my hankie in my jeans only if I stick my hands in the pockets and find a small soaked grey ball. Once, I found something that resembled more a stone than the confetti I was used to. Despite the relief of an avoided fight with each and every piece of laundry, I wonder: what the hell is there in London water that makes an handkerchief turn into stone in the washing machine?
My ex room-mate, who studied geology, told me that the water in London is very hard. I double checked on the Drinking Water Inspectorate website, which said that tap water in the Thames area is safe to drink, but nevertheless hard.
Hard water -containing high quantities of calcium and magnesium- influences negatively on washing processes, making it necessary to use more detergent (or seemingly, more toothpaste when brushing your teeth). Hard water combines with the detergent's molecules remaining attached on fabric and making it matted.
I suppose this accounts for my hankies turning into rocks when left in the washing machine, sparing me a fair amount of cursing and clothes wrestling. But what about my fabulous wool jumpers then? A good news never comes without a bad news, apparently.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Wrecked umbrellas among us
In a country famous for its dull rainy weather, I suppose it's predictable. Not being used to the sight, however, I felt sheer marvel when I first noticed it.
I was walking carefree with a friend on Westminster Bridge when I saw them. Those poor, entangled wires with rags around them were like rotting carcasses. I leaned closer and realised they were actually umbrellas. Perhaps in the past they had served their purpose, but now they were just a metal wreckage. I wondered why people would leave their broken umbrellas just there on the road. But maybe the strong wind destroyed them and carried them away. Who knows?
Today, I experienced the umbrella-wrecking myself. I went out of the pub and as it was raining I opened my umbrella. And there it was, half broken, twisted, shabby. I was disappointed and baffled. However, I walked with the remains of what once was my umbrella until I found a litter bin and threw it away. I buried it as it should be, instead of abandoning it somewhere.
I like to think that I paid respect to my unmissable London friend this way.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
London Dusk
The lights of London tonight were just amazing...
Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me while walking down Copenhagen Street. The lilac hues was melting into a darker blue against yellowish glassy windows of big buildings just in front of me. But I managed to take this, from Bingfield Street, as I got home... Enjoy!
Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me while walking down Copenhagen Street. The lilac hues was melting into a darker blue against yellowish glassy windows of big buildings just in front of me. But I managed to take this, from Bingfield Street, as I got home... Enjoy!
Monday, 25 January 2010
Brits are freaks - You are...dismissed!
The English language never fails to amaze me. Today, my attention was caught by a rather peculiar fact: there are a dozen ways to say that someone has been forced to leave their job. Some of them are more polite than others, some are rather brutal but honest, some are iconic but a little misleading. But let's review them one by one.
In the pH7 section - the sort of neutral, straightforward area - we have 'dismiss' and 'lay off', that alongside the expression 'make someone redundant', which adds the fatalistic colouring of "we loved you, but we had to show you to the door due to business restructuring", are meant not to make the former employees feel bad about themselves.
'Bounce' has a kind of 'gangsta' flavour to it - perhaps because it remind me of the word 'bouncer' - or a childish slant that gives the idea of a rejection: I imagine the poor fellow like a frustrated little boy who has just been denied his lollipop fix at a fun fair.
Some expressions are just effective: they are short, snappy and blunt. 'Fire' reminds me of someone being shot; 'sack', plus the variant 'give someone the sack', which is probably the harshest one, reminds me of someone given a bundle to put his belongings and bound to a miserable roaming of a life; 'give someone the boot' or 'boot out', which I have just discovered, is brilliant for the imagery it evokes, although it hints at some bitterness underlying the gesture.
The bureaucratic language puts it in a very formal way: 'give someone x days, weeks' notice', when at least the employer is polite enough - or legally bound - to give you some time to figure out what you will to do to pay the bills in the future.
The sneaky ones are those which make use of otherwise harmless words: surprisingly the verb 'can' in colloquial American English has the dreadful meaning of 'terminating'. 'Discharge' is also among the tricky words: it reminds me both of a discharged battery, metaphor for a worn-out employee, and of a dump full of jobless desperadoes.
Some expressions take a rather ironic angle: 'let go', as if the employee needed more freedom, 'send away' as if the employee was a letter and 'axe' as if the employee was Louis XVI ready to have his head cut off by the neat blade of a guillotine (hence, the Italian sadistic moniker 'tagliatore di teste', which means 'head-cutter', for those who make a living out of sacking people).
But my most favourite one is definitely 'kiss off', to which most people would answer back with a sound 'f*** off!'. 'Give someone the kiss-off' is a little bit like giving someone 'Judas kiss': a vile move right before the blow.
Such a colourful array of choices contrast sharply with the scant range of words available to say the contrary: 'hire', 'employ', 'take on'... quite dull, ain't it? Maybe people need to suggest and allude more when it comes to giving a bad -though not always- news. As it often is, negativity comes with creativity. And in this respect, the English are particularly creative.
In the pH7 section - the sort of neutral, straightforward area - we have 'dismiss' and 'lay off', that alongside the expression 'make someone redundant', which adds the fatalistic colouring of "we loved you, but we had to show you to the door due to business restructuring", are meant not to make the former employees feel bad about themselves.
'Bounce' has a kind of 'gangsta' flavour to it - perhaps because it remind me of the word 'bouncer' - or a childish slant that gives the idea of a rejection: I imagine the poor fellow like a frustrated little boy who has just been denied his lollipop fix at a fun fair.
Some expressions are just effective: they are short, snappy and blunt. 'Fire' reminds me of someone being shot; 'sack', plus the variant 'give someone the sack', which is probably the harshest one, reminds me of someone given a bundle to put his belongings and bound to a miserable roaming of a life; 'give someone the boot' or 'boot out', which I have just discovered, is brilliant for the imagery it evokes, although it hints at some bitterness underlying the gesture.
The bureaucratic language puts it in a very formal way: 'give someone x days, weeks' notice', when at least the employer is polite enough - or legally bound - to give you some time to figure out what you will to do to pay the bills in the future.
The sneaky ones are those which make use of otherwise harmless words: surprisingly the verb 'can' in colloquial American English has the dreadful meaning of 'terminating'. 'Discharge' is also among the tricky words: it reminds me both of a discharged battery, metaphor for a worn-out employee, and of a dump full of jobless desperadoes.
Some expressions take a rather ironic angle: 'let go', as if the employee needed more freedom, 'send away' as if the employee was a letter and 'axe' as if the employee was Louis XVI ready to have his head cut off by the neat blade of a guillotine (hence, the Italian sadistic moniker 'tagliatore di teste', which means 'head-cutter', for those who make a living out of sacking people).
But my most favourite one is definitely 'kiss off', to which most people would answer back with a sound 'f*** off!'. 'Give someone the kiss-off' is a little bit like giving someone 'Judas kiss': a vile move right before the blow.
Such a colourful array of choices contrast sharply with the scant range of words available to say the contrary: 'hire', 'employ', 'take on'... quite dull, ain't it? Maybe people need to suggest and allude more when it comes to giving a bad -though not always- news. As it often is, negativity comes with creativity. And in this respect, the English are particularly creative.
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Mugabe & the White African
Can you be a white man and an American? Can you be a white man and an Australian? Of course, yes. But, can you be a white man and an African? Mugabe’s answer is no.
The issue of racial and national identity is just one of the themes tackled by Mugabe and the White African, a documentary that tells the story of a man who defies Mugabe and his tyrannical regime in Zimbabwe.
Set against the controversial elections of 2008, the film revolves around Mike Campbell, a 75-yea-old farmer who in 2000 became victim of the land seizure programme launched by the Zimbabwean government at the expenses of white people. Determined to defend his property, which he legitimately bought after the Independence was achieved in the country in 1980, Mike and his son-in-law Ben Freeth press charge against Mugabe before the SADC (South African Development Community) International Court based in Namibia, accusing him of racial discrimination and violation of human rights.
The fight against the brutal regime proves tiring and dangerous for Mike, his family and his 500 farm workers, but he relentlessy stand for his right, knowing that if he wins he will set a precedent that would delegitimise Mugabe’s policies altogether. Frustration dots the hearings, as Mugabe’s team of attorneys continuously try to postpone the proceeding, showing at one point an extraordinary derespect towards justice institutions by leaving the court.
The documentary does not spare the viewer blood-spurted images as well, such as those of Mike, Angela and Ben at the hospital after being beaten up by Mugabe’s thugs just days before appearing before the International Court for the final hearing.
Mike Campbell, Ben Freeth and their farm workers.
Photo credit: Robin Hammond.
Shooting the entire film covertly was risky, all the more since the directors Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson used large cameras and a cumbersome equipment, forcing them to plan the logistics very carefully. The result is, however, compelling: vivid shots, picturesque landscapes and an engrossing score add empathy to the already engaging story. Even when shot with a Sony A1 handy camera by Ben when the directors were not there, with shaky takes and noisy background sounds, the documentary is powerful.
Criticism revolves around the lack of contextualization and perspective on the plight and hardships of other Zimbabweans. Even the voices of the farm workers are sonorously missing. Bailey, who held a Q&A session after the screening on 22 January at the Tricycle Theatre, explained that the main focus of the film is the court case and the emotional side of Mike’s story, rather then the political one. By delivering real life drama, says Bailey, the film reaches out to everyone.
The situation in Zimbabwe has not changed. In July 2009 Mike’s farm was burnt to the ground, and he himself is now bound to a wheelechair. He says he has turned an old man overnight. Two of the people who appeared in the movie are now dead -not as a result of the shooting of the film, Bailey says.
However, according to Bailey, who has worked extensively in Africa throughout her career, the film can play a significant role in terms of bringing hope to the cause and raising awareness. As Mike put it: publicity is the soul of justice. This documentary has become time-consuming for the director, who is currently promoting it over the UK and South Africa, where a lot of Zimbabweans seek relief and where Bailey first came across Campbell’s story.
Produced by David Pearson and Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock, who were brave enough to soldier on such a challenging project despite continuous delays and difficulties in raising fundings, Mugabe & the White African has won the 2009 British Indepent Award for Best Documentary and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Silverdocs Documentary Festival. On Thursday it was nominated at the 2010 Bafta awards as Outstanding Debut Film and is hotly tipped as possible nominee for this year’s Oscars.
More information available on: http://www.mugabeandthewhiteafrican.com/
The issue of racial and national identity is just one of the themes tackled by Mugabe and the White African, a documentary that tells the story of a man who defies Mugabe and his tyrannical regime in Zimbabwe.
Set against the controversial elections of 2008, the film revolves around Mike Campbell, a 75-yea-old farmer who in 2000 became victim of the land seizure programme launched by the Zimbabwean government at the expenses of white people. Determined to defend his property, which he legitimately bought after the Independence was achieved in the country in 1980, Mike and his son-in-law Ben Freeth press charge against Mugabe before the SADC (South African Development Community) International Court based in Namibia, accusing him of racial discrimination and violation of human rights.
The fight against the brutal regime proves tiring and dangerous for Mike, his family and his 500 farm workers, but he relentlessy stand for his right, knowing that if he wins he will set a precedent that would delegitimise Mugabe’s policies altogether. Frustration dots the hearings, as Mugabe’s team of attorneys continuously try to postpone the proceeding, showing at one point an extraordinary derespect towards justice institutions by leaving the court.
The documentary does not spare the viewer blood-spurted images as well, such as those of Mike, Angela and Ben at the hospital after being beaten up by Mugabe’s thugs just days before appearing before the International Court for the final hearing.
Mike Campbell, Ben Freeth and their farm workers.Photo credit: Robin Hammond.
Criticism revolves around the lack of contextualization and perspective on the plight and hardships of other Zimbabweans. Even the voices of the farm workers are sonorously missing. Bailey, who held a Q&A session after the screening on 22 January at the Tricycle Theatre, explained that the main focus of the film is the court case and the emotional side of Mike’s story, rather then the political one. By delivering real life drama, says Bailey, the film reaches out to everyone.
The situation in Zimbabwe has not changed. In July 2009 Mike’s farm was burnt to the ground, and he himself is now bound to a wheelechair. He says he has turned an old man overnight. Two of the people who appeared in the movie are now dead -not as a result of the shooting of the film, Bailey says.
However, according to Bailey, who has worked extensively in Africa throughout her career, the film can play a significant role in terms of bringing hope to the cause and raising awareness. As Mike put it: publicity is the soul of justice. This documentary has become time-consuming for the director, who is currently promoting it over the UK and South Africa, where a lot of Zimbabweans seek relief and where Bailey first came across Campbell’s story.
Produced by David Pearson and Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock, who were brave enough to soldier on such a challenging project despite continuous delays and difficulties in raising fundings, Mugabe & the White African has won the 2009 British Indepent Award for Best Documentary and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Silverdocs Documentary Festival. On Thursday it was nominated at the 2010 Bafta awards as Outstanding Debut Film and is hotly tipped as possible nominee for this year’s Oscars.
More information available on: http://www.mugabeandthewhiteafrican.com/
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
The spelling game
I've always wondered whether those spelling games you get to see in American movies really take place. I clearly remember an episode of the Simpson where Lisa gets all hyper and then panics as the school's spelling tournament jeopardises her bright wit. In American films it's usually a rather fat girl, with a spotted greasy face, wearing braces and a granny-style hairband to keep hold of her frizzy curls that wins this sort of competition. But let's forget about the stereotypical winner and focus on the competition for a second. And what a marvellous competition, indeed!
Being Italian, I've never quite understood how you couldn't possibly be able to write in your own native language. That's because Italian undoubtedly is a language that "you write as you speak" - that's how the saying goes, meaning that it's a phonetic language. The only slippery slopes where a little caution is recommended are sounds such as sc or gn. Other than that, no spelling is needed. Not even for the longest surname ever!
Not quite so for English. In its fascinating history, the English language has undergone so much melting and shifting -just to name a most notable instance, the great vowel shift of the XV-XVI centuries- that its pronunciation has come completely unstuck from its writing. That's why you could write rain like this -and spell it properly- or in the alternative spelling of rane. You would pronounce it just the same.
History explains why the Brits -and the Americans alike, as far as I can see from its teenage rather whacky movie culture- take so much pride in their spelling competitions. It really takes an effort for them to remember how to write words. I should boast for my ability to write properly in a language that is not even my mothertongue, but I won't. Simply because my learning of it was not disconnected from the writing. Whereas, when English speakers utter their first words, they clearly don't know how to write them.
History explains why scenes like those I got to see many years ago, sitting in my couch in Italy in front of the TV, with much amusement of my bewildered imagination that mused over the chance of such spelling games happening in my homecountry and how retarded they would look, scenes like those in the Simpson episode are still available for my amusement live, in streets of London. On my way back home today, I saw a lovely mother testing her daughters' skills by saying words that the two girls promptly and in unison spelt. "Royal!" "R-O-Y-A-L"
Such a funny scene. I couldn't help but notice the two girls. They slightly resembled the stereotype I mentioned before. Good luck to them!
Being Italian, I've never quite understood how you couldn't possibly be able to write in your own native language. That's because Italian undoubtedly is a language that "you write as you speak" - that's how the saying goes, meaning that it's a phonetic language. The only slippery slopes where a little caution is recommended are sounds such as sc or gn. Other than that, no spelling is needed. Not even for the longest surname ever!
Not quite so for English. In its fascinating history, the English language has undergone so much melting and shifting -just to name a most notable instance, the great vowel shift of the XV-XVI centuries- that its pronunciation has come completely unstuck from its writing. That's why you could write rain like this -and spell it properly- or in the alternative spelling of rane. You would pronounce it just the same.
History explains why the Brits -and the Americans alike, as far as I can see from its teenage rather whacky movie culture- take so much pride in their spelling competitions. It really takes an effort for them to remember how to write words. I should boast for my ability to write properly in a language that is not even my mothertongue, but I won't. Simply because my learning of it was not disconnected from the writing. Whereas, when English speakers utter their first words, they clearly don't know how to write them.
History explains why scenes like those I got to see many years ago, sitting in my couch in Italy in front of the TV, with much amusement of my bewildered imagination that mused over the chance of such spelling games happening in my homecountry and how retarded they would look, scenes like those in the Simpson episode are still available for my amusement live, in streets of London. On my way back home today, I saw a lovely mother testing her daughters' skills by saying words that the two girls promptly and in unison spelt. "Royal!" "R-O-Y-A-L"
Such a funny scene. I couldn't help but notice the two girls. They slightly resembled the stereotype I mentioned before. Good luck to them!
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Bananas People
Every day, walking around the city I wonder and marvel at the stuff I see. Lately, my attention has been caught by banana skins all over the places. And what I find extremely weird is that I've never thought about banana as a fruit that you can just eat in the street and then throw its skin away. But apparently, that's what they do here.
Once, I was on the bus and literally gaped at a banana skin, just there, in the middle of the corridor. The banana eater was civilised and threw the skin in a bin. The problem was that the bin was broken and the waste had slipped on the floor. On the tube, I even saw a small heap of banana skins on the "counter top" behind the seats. Wasn't it strange?
Anyway, the myth that you can slip and fall on a banana skin is true. It really happens. Earlier in December, I was walking to a Christmas market with some friends, when one of them accidentally stepped on a banana skin and slipped. We burst out laughing. Not because she almost fell and broke a leg, of course. But because the urban legend was proven right! It doesn't happen just on cartoons. You can really stumble on banana skins.
So, if you're a banana fan living in London, for the sake of strollers around, please, do not throw your banana skin on the pavement, which is insidious enough per se! You might put people's life in danger.
Once, I was on the bus and literally gaped at a banana skin, just there, in the middle of the corridor. The banana eater was civilised and threw the skin in a bin. The problem was that the bin was broken and the waste had slipped on the floor. On the tube, I even saw a small heap of banana skins on the "counter top" behind the seats. Wasn't it strange?
Anyway, the myth that you can slip and fall on a banana skin is true. It really happens. Earlier in December, I was walking to a Christmas market with some friends, when one of them accidentally stepped on a banana skin and slipped. We burst out laughing. Not because she almost fell and broke a leg, of course. But because the urban legend was proven right! It doesn't happen just on cartoons. You can really stumble on banana skins.
So, if you're a banana fan living in London, for the sake of strollers around, please, do not throw your banana skin on the pavement, which is insidious enough per se! You might put people's life in danger.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Living the earthquake from the other side of the Ocean
"I'm dying," said her mom as Maielle picked up the phone late at night, London time, on Tuesday 12 January. In Haiti it was 5 p.m. and a 7.0-magnitude earthquake had just shaken the island leaving shambles and casualities behind.
The phone call with her mother lasted just around 30 seconds before the line was cut off. However, Maielle Chilosi, a 33-year-old Haitian currently in London, managed to understand that despite the initial gush of fright both her parents were fine. They had escaped from their flat on the fourth floor of a building in Petion Ville, a wealthy suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, to spend the night in their car.
Panic was Maielle's first reaction, as she turned on the TV to understand what was going on. She could not get through to talk to her family, so she opted for the Internet. Facebook networking was the first contact she managed to establish, which got her in touch firstly with the International Haitian Community, rather than with people living on the island itself. Finally, she managed to reach her 16-year-old cousin and a friend, Christina Schutt, resident in Petion Ville, who posted on her Facebook this text:
We need Morphine IV’s Ketamine – Antibiotics – Seringes - Central lines - Propothol And any other medical supplies Please call 917 334 2939 you can also call 305 336 1616 or e.mail s.merovepierre@me.com jennagreen7@gmail.com mmp@nassagroup.com thank you
Despite the sense of powerless that pervades her, Maielle feels the only thing she can do now is to spread information and hope that someone on the ground might help. Her face is radiant, but her hands are shaky. "I feel blessed that my family is safe. It's like a ray of sunshine among despair," she said. However, she had trouble sleeping in the past couple of days.
Water supplies remain a priority problem, according to Maielle, since structures providing running water were already scarce before the catastrophe hit the island. People are collecting rainwater. Electricity is lacking, supermarkets are looted, the bodies of people lying around might lead to a spread of epidemic disease. The medical emergency is not new to the country. "We already had a problem with cholera in the past," Maielle said. "And the country is devasted by AIDS." Maielle's mother is a doctor and is already helping out, despite two days of rough sleep in her car.
Fear that authorities will lose control of the situation in the country is high. However, Maielle marvelled at the prompt response of the International Community and the aids mobilization from all over the world.
However, the reliance on major newspapers and broadcasters to have information of their loved ones causes anguish. "We see the same images over and over again," she said. "The death toll is constantly shifting. They have been talking about a fallen hospital and a fallen hotel, but I haven't seen any images of them." Watching images, she explained, would help her understand what is really going on in her homecountry.
As we walked out of the bar heading back to our offices, Maielle told me she has been spending the last two days on the internet and on Facebook, instead of being productive in her newly appointed role as product and development assistant at Eurostar. Understandably, news from her family and friends have been priority over duty in such a distressful moment that, as President Obama said in a statement yesterday, reminds us all of our common humanity.
The phone call with her mother lasted just around 30 seconds before the line was cut off. However, Maielle Chilosi, a 33-year-old Haitian currently in London, managed to understand that despite the initial gush of fright both her parents were fine. They had escaped from their flat on the fourth floor of a building in Petion Ville, a wealthy suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, to spend the night in their car.
Panic was Maielle's first reaction, as she turned on the TV to understand what was going on. She could not get through to talk to her family, so she opted for the Internet. Facebook networking was the first contact she managed to establish, which got her in touch firstly with the International Haitian Community, rather than with people living on the island itself. Finally, she managed to reach her 16-year-old cousin and a friend, Christina Schutt, resident in Petion Ville, who posted on her Facebook this text:
We need Morphine IV’s Ketamine – Antibiotics – Seringes - Central lines - Propothol And any other medical supplies Please call 917 334 2939 you can also call 305 336 1616 or e.mail s.merovepierre@me.com jennagreen7@gmail.com mmp@nassagroup.com thank you
Despite the sense of powerless that pervades her, Maielle feels the only thing she can do now is to spread information and hope that someone on the ground might help. Her face is radiant, but her hands are shaky. "I feel blessed that my family is safe. It's like a ray of sunshine among despair," she said. However, she had trouble sleeping in the past couple of days.
Water supplies remain a priority problem, according to Maielle, since structures providing running water were already scarce before the catastrophe hit the island. People are collecting rainwater. Electricity is lacking, supermarkets are looted, the bodies of people lying around might lead to a spread of epidemic disease. The medical emergency is not new to the country. "We already had a problem with cholera in the past," Maielle said. "And the country is devasted by AIDS." Maielle's mother is a doctor and is already helping out, despite two days of rough sleep in her car.
Fear that authorities will lose control of the situation in the country is high. However, Maielle marvelled at the prompt response of the International Community and the aids mobilization from all over the world.
However, the reliance on major newspapers and broadcasters to have information of their loved ones causes anguish. "We see the same images over and over again," she said. "The death toll is constantly shifting. They have been talking about a fallen hospital and a fallen hotel, but I haven't seen any images of them." Watching images, she explained, would help her understand what is really going on in her homecountry.
As we walked out of the bar heading back to our offices, Maielle told me she has been spending the last two days on the internet and on Facebook, instead of being productive in her newly appointed role as product and development assistant at Eurostar. Understandably, news from her family and friends have been priority over duty in such a distressful moment that, as President Obama said in a statement yesterday, reminds us all of our common humanity.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Snow coated London
I arrived in London yesterday afternoon, tired and buried by luggage. I went to sleep early, only to wake up the next morning with this view greeting me back from my holiday in Italy:
Outside the window panes life is still, snow covers everything like creamy frosting on a cake. It is freezing outside, but I stay home, wrapped in a warm jumper, doing my job. I thought that becoming a journalist would imply meeting new people and always being on the run. Maybe I'm doing things wrong, but for my internship I don't even have to venture in the glittering cold to reach the office. I can work remotely on my clapped-out laptop while sitting on my bed.
Today I wrote about bad weather conditions causing flight delays and cancellations, with several airports shutting down. I wrote about trains being affected by snow fall and about schools being shut down due to road closures. All of this while sitting on my chair, watching at the same reports of the earthquake in Haiti and Google pulling out of China.
The sleepy atmosphere outside mirrors my mood. I feel like a bear hibernating: my only activity being slumbering. This lethargy of soul must come to an end very soon. But how can you be active and defy the cold when it's so cosy inside?
Outside the window panes life is still, snow covers everything like creamy frosting on a cake. It is freezing outside, but I stay home, wrapped in a warm jumper, doing my job. I thought that becoming a journalist would imply meeting new people and always being on the run. Maybe I'm doing things wrong, but for my internship I don't even have to venture in the glittering cold to reach the office. I can work remotely on my clapped-out laptop while sitting on my bed.
Today I wrote about bad weather conditions causing flight delays and cancellations, with several airports shutting down. I wrote about trains being affected by snow fall and about schools being shut down due to road closures. All of this while sitting on my chair, watching at the same reports of the earthquake in Haiti and Google pulling out of China.
The sleepy atmosphere outside mirrors my mood. I feel like a bear hibernating: my only activity being slumbering. This lethargy of soul must come to an end very soon. But how can you be active and defy the cold when it's so cosy inside?
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Recycle....
I decided once more to change topic of my school blog, so I'll post here the miserable articles I had written so far for the other blog. Enjoy.... From MAIL...Minorities & Arts in London
published on 11 November 2009
Short-film awards close Black Filmmaker's festival
published on 11 November 2009
Short-film awards close Black Filmmaker's festival
The 11th edition of the Black Filmmaker's (BFM) festival closed yesterday night at BFI Southbank with the screening of the five best short films that entered the competition. And for the first time a scholarship sponsored by the Legacy Media Institute was awarded to a young talented documentarist.
After five days of screenings, premieres and seminars, the BFM festival came to an end. Awards were given for several categories. A successful Top Girl won best female actor, best script and best cinematography, but it was the noir The Hydra that got the audience's favour bringing home best film. All the movies were produced in the UK.
Louis Buckley received a scholarship to study in a six-week programme in Virginia, USA. In his thanks speech he said: "I've been making documentaries to try to understand who we are more and take control of our image, so that we can bring the best of ourselves to the public."
The prize was announced by Tim Reid, CEO of the Legacy Media Institute, an organization supporting young talents within the media industry. In his foundation statement (available here) the African-American actor said: "I've always viewed media as an entertainment and informational resource that could enable members of different groups to share ideas and interests across racial and ethnic barriers."
- A snapshot from Top Girl
Host of the night was award-winning British black comedian Eddie Kadi. He warmed up the cinema with jokes on Fufu, a typical African staple food, and its side effects on the lips and the changes in music trends through the years. He also tackled issues of cultural clash, family life within different societies and integration of the African-Caribbean communities in the UK.
The organizer of the event, Nadia Denton, was overall satisfied of the festival. "This year we've had better audience and better engagement from filmmakers," she said.
The festival is gaining momentum within the international landscape of independent films, giving local directors, actors and scriptwriters the opportunity to launch their projects abroad. And at the same time, the festival is a showcase for African and Caribbean films to catch the attention of the Londoner audience.
Read the full BFM festival brochure to catch up on the films you missed.
THE AWARDS:
- Best actor: Cavin Cornwall, Enter the preacher, dir. Paulette James, UK 2008
- Best actress: Rumbi Mautsi, Top Girl, dir. Rebecca Johnson, UK 2008
- Best cinematography: David Raedeker, Top Girl, dir. Rebecca Johnson, UK 2008
- Best script: Rebecca Johnson, Top Girl, dir. Rebecca Johnson, UK 2008
- Best film: The Hydra, dir. Shola Amoo and Nosa Igbinedion, UK 2009
THE FESTIVAL: WRAP-UP
The festival opened last Friday with the European premiere of Chris Rock's documentary Good hair, a controversial investigation on the use of wigs, weaves and chemicals by African-American women to relax their kinky curls in the attempt to get straight, soft, typically white hair: an effort that moves a $9 billion worth industry.
Not only is the festival a showcase for emerging young directors, but it also gives the chance to tackle with the audience some of the hot issues that black minorities have to face within their local communities. The collection Identity shorts addressed the issues of identity, integration and immigration as the characters of the films were searching for their roots. A good day to be black and sexy developed through five vignettes the themes of sexuality, love and interracial relationships. The intense drama Something is killing Tate revolved around the parabol of decline and rebirth of a young man haunted by a troubled childhood.
African and Caribbean productions were also part of the programme. Nadia Denton hopes that the collaboration with filmmakers from abroad will improve over the next years. She said: "We've already gained interest from Zambia and other countries."
Check the Profiles page for poet and actor Dean Atta's interview. His short film Young, black and gay was presented on Saturday 11 November at the BFM festival.
PROFILE
BEING YOUNG, BLACK AND GAY IN LONDON: POET AND ACTOR DEAN ATTA TELLS US HOW IT IS
When a gesture of affection becomes a political claim
While walking along Southbank with his boyfriend early last year, poet and actor Dean Atta could not imagine that holding hands could become an assertive gesture. He saw it coming as six men who had the looks of thugs approached the couple. But Dean does not have the habit of stereotyping people, so he kept hold of his boyfriend's hand. And they were bullied by the gang of yobs, pushed aside and assaulted.
It was Dean's first and only time that he had been attacked, but he recalls the experience with shock. And nevertheless he does not regret holding his boyfriend's hand that day.
Right after being assaulted the couple ran away and reported to the police. Dean said the officers of the LGBT team who patrol specifically on homophobic attacks were very helpful and sensitive. And even though the thugs were never found, the authorities' support helped Dean and his boyfriend recover from the incident.
Dean is a 25-year-old Londoner with Jamaican and Cypriot descent. He is the author of the poem on which the short film Young, black and gay is based. The 3-minute quickie was commissioned by True Vision productions, broadcast by Channel 4 last September and presented at this year's edition of the BFM festival within the section Identity shorts. It tackles the issues of interracial relationships, bullying and homosexuality.
Listen to Dean Atta reading of Young, black and gay
Dean thinks that interracial relationship, being his boyfriend at that time white, was as much an issue as the fact that the couple was gay. "Somehow it's harder being gay and black for cultural and religious reasons," Dean said. "Whether Christian or Muslim, black families seem to be stricter. In Jamaica, for instance, homophobia is still very strong and being homosexual is against the law."
About his presence at the BFM festival Dean said: "I received great response from people who watched the film. And shooting the film actually helped me greatly come to terms with the experience I had."
Dean is also involved in educational projects with the kids. He teaches them poetry and drama. "The main problem is the lack of education and ignorance. It's ridiculous being judged because of who you're holding hands with," he said. Since university, when he was president of the African and Caribbean society, Dean has been promoting activities to boost acceptance and respect within the community.
At the moment he is looking for funding to translate his monologue Rice and peas into a short film. The piece deals with a topic that Dean considers underrepresented in mainstream media: domestic violence in gay communities. He has also been nominated for the category "Achievement through the arts" at the Spirit of London awards, a new recognition scheme for young talented and motivated Londoners. The awards will be given on 27 November.
Update: Dean Atta received the award at the Spirit of London for the category "Achievement through the arts".
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published on 19 November 2009
Seize the day is the provocative title of a play that reflects on the possibility of having a black Mayor of London. It is performing until 17 December at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn within the Not Black & White season.
Seize the day, written by actor and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah, tells the story of Jeremy Charles, a successful reality TV presenter who gets the chance to run for Mayor of London at the election in 2012. At this time, the ratio of people from ethnic minorities in the capital is expected to be 45%. And Jeremy is black. A chance -and rather brutal- encounter with a brilliant young boy from the ghetto, however, makes him change his mind.
The play gives the chance to tackle a much more sensitive issue: the presence of people from minority groups in society and especially in politics. The likelihood of a black Mayor being actually elected in London is not so remote. More than one in the audience recognized in the character of Jeremy former TV executive and presenter Trevor Phillips, who ran to be Labour candidate for Mayor of London in 1999.
The issue of minorities being represented in politics is still fuelling debate. Here are the reactions of members of the audience after the play.
THE AUDIENCE'S REACTION
Three young people engaged in a discussion right after the play, which all of them enjoyed. However, they said the story itself did not offer new arguments and relied on stereotypes, such as the issue of underachievement by kids from a minority background.
D. Allen, 30, said: "The point of the play mirrored reality in the sense that it mirrored the tightness of the black community."
Then she added: "Another issue is how black communities are perceived after the media coverage. Sometimes we feel victimized."
C. Daniel, 30, said: "Despite the ban of the BBC code of practice, frequently there is a reference to the ethnic origin of a person when reporting crime."
As regards the political issues raised by the play, the benchmark was US President Barack Obama, who "lifted the black community", said Ms Allen.
A third woman said: "A lot of Europeans are not as tolerant as they think they are. How many people are there in politics in Europe if compared to the USA?"
Mr Daniel said: "But London is tolerant."
"No, it's not tolerant. It's underground, if compared to French and Italians who are more upfront about how they feel about minority groups," she added.
Two other members of the audience were interviewed and questioned about the issue of integration in the city of London. They said they were in favour of integration rather than segregation.
"African-Caribbean are becoming integrated," said one of the two women. "Other groups stand on their own. The Chinese, for example, are very mindful, peaceful and hard-working. They contribute in terms of working and setting businesses up. Other groups are not integrated. The Muslim side is something people are concerned about."
The woman was no more available for comment after this statement.
REASONS TO TALK ABOUT IT
In the leaflet of the season, artistic director Nicolas Kent explains why he chose three black playwrights to explore different themes about the current state of London or Britain.
"Now as we approach the end of the first decade of the 21st century, and across London Black and Asian children outnumber white British children by about six to four, I thought it important and challenging to look at the society in which we live from the perspective of three leading black writers," he said.
According to the census of 2001, 87.5% of the population in England and Wales identified themselves as White British. In Greater London, however, the ratio is different. According to 2001 census, 71.2% Londoners were White British, whereas the rest of the population belonged to minority groups, the major being Indians (6.1%), Black Africans (5.3%) and Black Caribbeans (4.8%).
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