syndicate netribution and put our headlines on your site or in your reader http://www.netribution.co.uk Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:43:02 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.netribution.co.uk/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.netribution.co.uk syndicate netribution and put our headlines on your site or in your reader http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1628&Itemid=265 This review is going to be full of spoilers; if you don't want to know, best look away now. So, for the remaining reader: the flexibility of the truth (http://suchandrika.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/the-editor-believes-the-thing-to-be-a-just-history-of-fact/). It can make or break lives. Reading aloud draws two people into a decades-long relationship; the shame of illiteracy leads to a terrible crime and a life of penance; a Holocaust survivor's book puts six female ex-SS guards on trial. . Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:32:29 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1626&Itemid=277 Who would have ever thought before that clipping path (http://www.lazymask.com) can be such a profitable niche in the outsourcing industry. There were brave ones who saw the opportunity, the need was there and they filled it. Now, a lot of graphic outsourcing companies are offering clipping path services and it is evident in Google once you query “clipping path”. Big offshore companies this time are eying a new niche. Found across the video post production industry, the possible next outsourcing hit is rotoscoping. Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:40:30 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1625&Itemid=277 Not quite sure if this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG0CzM_Frvc) film fits within YouTube's guidelines (http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines) : Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone being physically hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don't post it... YouTube is not a shock site. Don't post gross-out videos of accidents, dead bodies or similar things intended to shock or disgust. The original video was claimed by the Israeli army to be Hamas workers loading rockets onto a truck before being bombed, but in fact seems to be a shop owner and his family loading oxygen canisters onto a truck to avoid looters. The video is(was) here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG0CzM_Frvc). Three of those killed in the attack shown on the video were apparently (http://www.btselem.org/English/Gaza_Strip/20081231_Army_bombs_metal_workshop_in_Gaza.asp) children - Wisam Akram ‘Eid, Mahmoud Nabil Ghabayan and Ahmad Ibrahim Khila. From Michael Shaw at the Huffington Post: YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk) and the Israeli Consulate's application (http://twitter.com/israelconsulate) of Twitter. That, however, was before my readership called me out for linking to an IDF bombing video I, following the Israeli Air Force, read as a direct hit on Hamas members loading a flatbed truck full of rockets. Going back and investigating what one reader went so far as call an IDF-YouTube snuff film, I amended my post with the following update: Research from a number of sources, including the Israeli-Palestinian B'Tselem group in Gaza (http://www.btselem.org/English/Gaza_Strip/20081231_Army_bombs_metal_workshop_in_Gaza.asp), indicate that the owner of the truck in the Israeli Defense Force bombing was not a Hamas member transporting rockets, but instead a civilian transporting gas welding canisters from his metalworking shop. According to B'Tselem, eight people were killed in the bombing, including the son of the shop owner, Ahmad Sanur. As best as I can tell at this point, the video I linked to yesterday from the Israeli military's YouTube Channel (posted above, for as long as it remains on-line) documents the same attack on Mr. Sanur's shop. The second image of the gas canister was taken by B'Tselem field workers after the fact. There are many issues this story raises, not the least involving the fallacy of aerial precision. What troubles me most, however, is how the IDF, in the name of transparency and smart public relations, has not only posted quite a few videos of bombing runs, but continues to show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG0CzM_Frvc) the one in question (at least, as of Thursday night), as if this apparent evisceration of civilians doesn't merit correction. Another way of looking at it is that it is now a piece of historical record, or even evidence, that no rocket fire or shell bombardment can destroy. As more footage and photos are uploaded, YouTube and similar sites have new social responsibilities for documenting and preserving such records. More on this on BBC news here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7809371.stm) and B'TSelem below. Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:00:00 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1624&Itemid=277 The Israeli city of Sderot lies a few miles from Gaza and towards the end of 2008 the French TV Station Arté produced 80 short films/vlogs in both Sderot and the Gaza strip where Palestinians and Israelis talk about their hopes, dreams and fears. The last episode of Gaza Sderot : Life in Spite of Everything (http://gaza-sderot.arte.tv/en/#/time/95), was produced on 23rd December, four days before the bombardment started. Serge Gordey (http://gaza-sderot.arte.tv/blog/index.php?post/2008/12/31/Some-news-/-Des-nouvelles) on New Years Eve: After many attempts to communicate in every possible fashion, I finally managed to talk on the phone with our Palestinian colleague, Yousef Atwa. Yousef is the producer who has been leading the project in Gaza all these weeks. Everyone’s concern is above all to find some shelter from the « collateral damages » of the air strikes, he explained to me : when you live in Gaza City, the odds are that some way or another you live close to a police center, administrative offices, military premises, government centers, cultural institutions that are headed or influenced by the current power, etc. And in that case, you might get hit, even if you are not the primary target. Therefore, our production team in Gaza is disbanded at the moment: all the members of the team have been trying to find shelter together with their dear ones, in other places, such as the countryside, with friends or relatives. Moreover, communication lines are broken because of the electricity cuts that are more severe than ever. And on the top of that, people don’t move around the city so as to avoid being hit by unpredictable air force attacks. From all this it was easy to understand that getting into contact with our characters is proving to be very difficult. It's similar in concept to the Life Must Go on in Gaza and Sderot (http://gaza-sderot.blogspot.com/) blog, written by “Peace Man” in Sajaia Refugee camp in Gaza and “Hope Man” in Sderot, which describes itself as: This blog is written by 2 friends… The media coverage on both sides has been extremely biased. Our Blog is written by 2 real people living and communicating on both sides of the border. Of the current conflict, Hope Man said on Jan 2nd: For 5 months there was an almost complete cease fire. Instead of taking advantage of this long period of quiet to reach a long term agreement, both sides spent their time preparing for this war by planning and arming. No serious efforts were made to start a dialog... The day after the war we want to start finding ways to work together and create a normality. We are only several kilometers apart and that will never change. It is extremely important to widen our dialog and create trust between those that are willing to talk. To share our stories, fears and hopes. The day after the war we need a new beginning. Let's start planting seeds of humanity and trust now. Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:49:50 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1623&Itemid=282 Writer (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/3949591/Harold-Pinter-one-of-the-most-influential-British-playwrights-of-modern-times.html), actor, director, conscientious objector, uncompromising activist (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/dec/07/iraq.booksnews) and - by all accounts - much loved (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7800061.stm) and utterly decent person, Harold Pinter was not just a great contributor to our times, but a real inspiration. In the below video he talks about art, truth, politics and the Iraq war, as he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literatrue in 2005. 2574205 the cushion may be suffocating your intelligence... but it's very comfortable Fri, 26 Dec 2008 04:09:26 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1621&Itemid=277 So much to write about, so little time! Part of the reason I'm not reviewing the year's moves in indie finance, rights, piracy or environmentally sustainable filmmaking is the time taken up with a new research project we've been working on exploring changes with cinema in the real flesh and blood world. More on this soon, hopefully, but meantime here is a seasonally appropriate example of one particularly interesting AV development - Mapping - via the ever excellent Create Digital Motion (http://www.createdigitalmotion.com) - TreeWaxHD (http://vimeo.com/2515299) from klipcollective (http://vimeo.com/user1033252): 2515299 Wed, 24 Dec 2008 04:14:14 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1619&Itemid=277 A day after the Film Council declared 2007 the best year (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/british-film-and-tv-exports-fall-for-first-time-in-five-years-1061298.html) for British film exports since 1995, there's a bumper crop of nominations in the 2009 Golden Globes. From the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7777686.stm) : Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Emma Thompson and Dame Judi Dench are among the British actors to feature on this year's Golden Globe shortlist... Danny Boyle, Stephen Daldry and Winslet's husband Sam Mendes swell the UK contingent further with three of the five nominations in the best director category. Winners in full after the jump. Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:31:43 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1617&Itemid=277 David Holroyd's independent British thriller member Christine Hartland (component/option,com_comprofiler/task,userProfile/user,3101/Itemid,96/) , is to receive its online world premiere on Daily Motion simultaneously to its screening at the Brighton CineCity Film Festival (http://www.cine-city.co.uk/2008/event/?id=236). It is part of a campaign to promote and sell the film which is utilising every digital option. We are hoping that you, as someone who enjoys film and cares about the issues in wmd., will honour our decision to [release film free online] and hopefully pay (at least once) for the chance to see it The filmmakers Filming began in January this year (component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,311/func,view/catid,9/id,543/) on the story of Alex Morgan, an MI6 desk officer who uncovers critical inaccuracies in the evidence being used by politicians to justify the imminent invasion of Iraq and attempted to expose the truth. Written after extensive research and filmed on surveillance, CCTV and home video cameras, ‘WMD’ is a fictional account inspired by real events, aiming to show what intelligence circles really knew in the build-up for the recent Iraq war. The film was shot in London, Rome, Berlin, Washington DC and Morocco. With the massive online success of films such as Loose Change (content/view/915/30/), Four Eyed Monsters (content/view/1210/267/) and Zeitgeist Addendum (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7065205277695921912) the filmmakers are hoping to get a level of exposure for the film previously unheard of for a micro-budget, self-distributed feature. You can watch the film exclusively on Dailymotion (http://www.dailymotion.com/WMD-InsideStory) from 6th to 8th December. You can also apparently buy the film from the WMD website and Amazon, although links did not work at time of writing. The filmmakers intend to donate some of the proceeds to the WarChild charity. x7omjw Sat, 06 Dec 2008 06:00:35 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1616&Itemid=277 News in about the most recent not-so-secret-anymore Secret Cinema, Future Cinema/Nokia's immersive cinema experience night. FUTURE CINEMA in association with NOKIA hosted a sell-out SECRET CINEMA at the Royal Horticultural Halls on Friday. Guests arrived in Westminster to find the venue and surrounding streets transformed into 80s New York and joined the live performers to pay homage to the comedy classic Ghostbusters. In the biggest live event of its kind SECRET CINEMA entertained over 1,100 revellers and a simultaneous screening took place at the Corn Exchange in the seaside town of Brighton. The location of the screening was only revealed on Thursday morning to SECRET CINEMA members who had signed up at www.secretcinema.org. Members were notified of the venue by email and told only to wear their finest 80s attire. Guests were then entertained by a host of energetic performers in Ghostbuster costume, Ecto-1 and NYC cops patrolled the streets and free hot dogs and pretzels were served. After the main show SECRET CINEMA hosted an exclusive after show party. Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:12:33 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1615&Itemid=271 News in of a great looking three day Filmmaking Masterclass - A Deconstruction of Film Narrative - with Oscar nominated director of Leaving Las Vegas, Mike Figgis in February. Talking as much about making a film as taking one apart, this enticing event will allow participants to openly pose questions about the film-making process in a creative environment where answers to this process can both be demonstrated and practically explained. The course is the next event from the Faber Academy, and will take place at The Hospital Club from 2-4 February 2009. There will be open Q A throughout. The course cost is £400 / €515. For further information about the course, and how to book, go to www.faber.co.uk/article/2008/10/faber-academy-figgis-masterclass (http://www.faber.co.uk/article/2008/10/faber-academy-figgis-masterclass). In light of this event, thanks to the nice people at Faber, we have 5 copies of Mike’s latest book Digital Film Making to give away. One lucky winner will receive a signed copy, and 4 runners up will each receive an unsigned copy. To win, have a look at Mike's interview with Netribution from 2000 below, and answer the following question: what did Mike use to write the script for Timecode - with its parrallel narratives? Email your answer to hello@netribution.co.uk (mailto:hello@netribution.co.uk?subject=MIKE) with MIKE in the subject line. (NB, far fewer people enter competitions than you'd think so it really is worth entering!) Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:42:39 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1614&Itemid=277 Picking up Best Film and Director at the BIFAs (http://www.bifa.org.uk/) for his Mumbai set feature, Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle, who like many fell in love with the city, referred to the tragic events of the week (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7757739.stm) : It is weird to win this at the end of what's been a terrible week. The human spirit is dominant there. They will overcome, you can bet on it. The film picked up three awards, and should boost the Oscar buzz already surrounding the film (http://www.freep.com/article/20081130/ENT01/811300350). In other wins, Man on a Wire received Best documnetary, Simon Ellis's feted Soft picked up Best Short, and Steve McQueen won the Douglas Hickox award for best British newcomer for Hunger, which won three prizes. Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:55:47 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1613&Itemid=277 Similar to the 'video essay' website (http://wakeupfreakout.org/index.html) : It’s much, much later than you think This really isn’t about polar bears any more. At this very moment, the fate of civilization itself hangs in the balance. I am not a scientist, I’m an animator. Nor do I have a background in science. I am not qualified to make judgements about the veracity of the data-sets and methodologies behind the peer-reviewed science that has informed the content of this film. But I am sufficiently well educated to be able to understand the abstracts, conclusions and executive summaries of this work, and to be able to draw my own conclusions about its implications for human welfare and prosperity. What I have attempted to do here is to make the reasoning behind this work accessible to ordinary members of the public who, like me, lack scientific training; to unpack the ‘black boxes’ of scientific ‘facts’ so that we may examine their contents unobscured by jargon and mathematics. 1709110 Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:40:34 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1612&Itemid=265 Profoundly humane and stunningly aesthetical, Waltz with Bashir is not about dancing…not even around the bullets of one’s enemies as does an Israeli soldier in the eponymous scene. Through the personal lens of his experience as a soldier during the Sabra and Chatila massacres of the 1982 Lebanese war, Israeli director Ari Folman tells the universal story of young men and the harrowing consequences of war upon them. With his conscious use of drawings instead of live-action or even rotoscope animation, Ari Folman may have paved the way for a new genre: the animated documentary. Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:21:02 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1611&Itemid=277 An article in the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-ca-finance23-2008nov23,0,6488242.story) features news of a crowdsourced / micro-presales success story: Actress-writer-producer Sybil Temtchine has raised about half of the $600,000 budget for her film Audrey from female business leaders. About a year ago, she sat in a Borders and collected the name of every famous female author who'd written a book that somehow touched on female empowerment, from Suze Orman to Marianne Williamson. She wrote to 200 of them, and sent a link to her short film Piece A' Cake, (http://www.audreythemovie.com/html/aud_pac.htm)which was the launching point for her proposed feature, a comedy about female insecurity. About 75% of the women wrote back. Some sent checks and others introduced her to women's organizations like 85 Broads, which support women entrepreneurs. 85 Broads' founder Janet Hanson blogged about us. It was the greatest blog, like only a mother would write, Temtchine says. An actress who has appeared in TV shows and films, Temtchine intends to play the lead and opted not to fill out the ensemble cast with name actors because that's a process that can take years. I felt that this was a hard route, but no harder than waiting around for 10 years, she says. A rare success story amidst many gloomier tales as indies deal with the quadruple punch of the credit collapse taking out gap finance and private equity (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article4870353.ece), the shutdown of the studio specialty divisions (http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSN0642650320080607), the collapse of pre-sales amid uncertainty around online rights (content/view/1373/277/), and stagnating DVD sales with increasing piracy. For an example of quite how much piracy impacts every level of the industry, not just just studio blockbusters whose income is guaranteed, Chris Jones' latest update on his ever-fascinating blog (http://livingspirit.typepad.com/blog/2008/11/sell-baby-sell.html) and video diary is revealing: One other sign of the time also took place at Memorabilia. A guy I was speaking to said that he had Urban Ghost Story and really liked it. I asked which DVD release it was, and he said, neither, he had downloaded it illegally. Just plain came out and said it. I suggested he could now own his own legal copy and he seemed a little ‘stunned’ that I would be so direct with him. I didn’t push it. We all know piracy is going on, at an incredible scale too, but to own up to the film maker that they downloaded their film, and then be surprised when the film maker gently suggests they should buy a legal copy tells us a great deal about the state of things. People really do expect music and movies to be free. For (gulp) advertiser- and sponsor- financed films (see storybid (http://www.storybids.com/howitworks.html) - a new site specifically for this), as well as crowd-sourced films where the micro-funders all have an active interest in seeing the film viewed widely (ie for a campaigning documentary), not to mention films intended primarily to boost the careers of those involved; free, un-restricted file-sharing makes a lot of sense. The advantages of filesharing purely as cheap marketing is still open for debate. For those trying to produce their film so that can recoup its investment, yet who don't want to make a 90 minute Eurostar commercial (content/view/1511/), the options are currently stark. As those who know anything about the film industry will realise - for independent, non-studio, non-mainstream films, income from theatrical and merchandise is virtually non-existant. A small independently written, published and distributed book can just about make it's author a living, while a band such as Radiohead can apparently make 70% of their income (content/view/1312/277/) from touring. The same cannot currently be said for features - ie the non-piratable / non-digital revenues are tiny, while the cost of production is generally very high. To confound it all even further, to get a film on iTunes, the main digital store, at present seems very difficult (http://cinematech.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-get-your-indie-film-on-itunes.html). Watching the fascinating Revolution or Reform debate between the Swedes behind the Pirate Bay and Pirate Party and John Buckman, whose Magnatune (http://www.magnatune.com) record label is pioneering the business use of Creative Commons (content/view/1195/277/) distribution (and has just started a pay-what-you-want subscription service (http://blogs.magnatune.com/buckman/2008/11/membership-with.html)), my overwhelming sense was how films are more expensive to make than music - that a future where the only films made with a budget are studio blockbusters and sponsor-financed is neither culturally exciting nor a step forward: 3700025533865609299 Of course, much of the file-sharing movement is linked to the open-source world, where GPL-licensed free software competes with the biggies (ie OpenOffice vs Microsoft Office, Ubuntu vs Linux, Gimp vs Photoshop) but people still make donations and pay small independent developers for useful little applications. All these files could easily be pirated but people pay enough to give many of these developers a regular income (ie Joomla than runs Netribution is free, but the comments module at the bottom of this page, and the community manager program are both things I paid for). Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:25:17 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1610&Itemid=307 How did we cope before the advent of DVD’s? Rewinding a video tape took ages, the quality was something less to be desired and there was a nary a special feature in sight. How our film loving predecessor’s must have suffered in that primitive world - well, unless they had loads of money and bought a Laserdisc. Thankfully, we’re now knee deep in DVDs and Special Edition # 28 is here to guide you through some of the latest releases. Laurence Boyce looks at some summer blockbusters that - well - didn’t exactly bust any blocks, some brilliant short films and the usual mixture of films and TV shows. And, if you missed the Easter Egg, go HERE (content/view/1602/307/) for a review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. Sun, 23 Nov 2008 07:33:36 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1607&Itemid=265 What is the difference between torture and punishment? According to Ridley Scott’s latest thriller, which casts a harshly critical eye on the spy game, it is simply the fact that one is efficient and the other is not. Set against the backdrop of the infamous “war on terror”, Body of Lies centres on the hardships of a CIA agent who heads to Jordan to track down a high-ranking terrorist. He soon runs into a web of deceit and lies: but these originate from his friends, not his enemies. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:01:47 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1606&Itemid=277 News just in from the UKFC on the New Cinema Funds' planned short film investment for the next year. As well as support for the first time for disabled filmmakers through the new Magic Hour strand, support has been offered to 13 animators through 4mations Digital Shorts, a partnership between Channel 4, Lupus Films and Aardman Animations. From the press release: Disabled filmmakers will benefit from The Magic Hour, a new £40,000 shorts scheme being managed by 104 Films. In the first shorts programme dedicated to disabled filmmakers, ten people will receive intensive project and story development training over an eight week period and following an assessment, five projects will go into production, each with a budget of £8,800. The filmmakers will also take part in The Script Factory training programme supported by Skillset receiving a complete overview from script development to different exhibition strategies. Additional support from the UK Film Council’s Diversity team will support out-reach work to disabled filmmakers bringing UK Film Council funding to £97,000 for the programme. 4mations Digital Shorts, a partnership between Channel 4, Lupus Films, Aardman Animations and the UK Film Council, and the new online animation channel 4mations, is a national search for animated shorts from new and emerging talent across the UK. Working with 13 UK strategic partners to fund 13 animated short films, they will have an online premiere on 4mations and may also be broadcast on Channel 4 (www.4mations.tv). Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:45:23 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1605&Itemid=277 Remember, if you can, ten years ago. You connected to the web by rubbing two telephones together. The film world was a dark and mysterious place, illuminated only by the appearance of Jones and Joliffe's Guerilla Filmmakers Handbook, and Rodriquez's Rebel Without A Crew some three years before. For most outside the demilitarised zone of Soho, digital was just a watch that was not yet retro enough to be cool, and film jobs were for the most part passed through families like hereditary peerages. Until one day, out of this primordial soup, a mailing list appeared. A year later, on a dark night, in a pre-Nathan Barley Hoxton, a group of early Shooters came together for the first birthday party. We were all stunned to see that a) we were mostly real normal people, b) no-one told us we weren't important enough to stay and c) quite how many of us there were - at least twice as many as expected with the planned screening split in two. It's easy to disregard it in today's web with a gazillion websites and contests trying to appeal to filmmakers, and 13 hours of content uploaded to YouTube (http://informitv.com/articles/2008/10/15/youtubecomparesonline/) every minute - but back then - other than The Eejits Guide to Filmmaking (http://www.exposure.co.uk/eejit/index.html) and a monthly updated Six Degrees, there was nothing for UK film. And in turn we had no idea how many of us there were making films - I remember being shocked to learn of 3,000, then 6,500 members when Tom interviewed Jess for Netribution in 2000 (features/interviews/2000/jess_search/1.html), long before it hit 20, 30 and 40,000. To think of the number of careers, friendships and films that have been started and inspired as a result of Jess and Cath's baby is quite awe inspiring. Indeed it was that evening I first started asking people's opinions about a free website of funding info and industry resources and it was on the SP bulletins again a few months later than Netribution was launched. Two years on (almost seven years ago, gawd!) when Netribution had run out of money and steam I was fortunate to join Jess, Cath and Stu as preparations were made for the switch to a subscription service. It was an exciting time, brimming with possibilities. Even just learning the secrets of the then crude moderation system felt like being admitted to a secret society (every possible post arrived in your inbox as an email, which could either be rejected or accepted by clicking a link, and which if you were clever you could do in the right order to get the paid work at the top and the chatter at the bottom, and if you were dumb could see you post a whole heap of gunk to the list irretrievably). If there is a winning quality to Shooters, which launched before Cluetrain (content/view/861/281/) was published, I'd say it was the approachable human-ness of it all amidst a huge amount of energy. Even now, as Jess heads up the UK's leading doc organisation (http://www.britdoc.org), she finds time to respond to criticism in blogs. It always amazed me how between keeping full time jobs, running SP, making shorts, studying, DJing and keeping abreast of the cool they still managed to cook a cracking dinner for the weekly meetings. And how huddled around their kitchen tables, the overwhelming memory from discussions that could go well into the night was the sense of responsibility to serve the members well, while constantly moving forwards, something I was proud to be a part of and played a hand in. So Happy Birthday Shooting People! Many Happy Returns and congratulations on being such a vital part of indie filmmaking for so long. It's brilliant to see you such an established and important part of the film world now - here's to many many more years. (some great images and messages from SP members, here (http://shootingpeople.org/birthday) ) Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1604&Itemid=277 This 2009 Satyajit Ray Foundation Competition is open to all film-makers, of any age, either resident or studying in the UK. The closing date is 1st March 2009. From the Ray Foundation (http://www.satyajitray.org.uk): The film, of not more than 30 minutes running time, should express and inform aspects of the experiences of South Asians (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) either within their own countries or the Diaspora. All submissions must have been completed within two years prior to the closing date. Previous entries cannot be considered. The Satyajit Ray Foundation is pleased to announce that it will be presenting a cash prize for Best Film of £1,000. Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:50:34 +0100 http://www.netribution.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1603&Itemid=277 From Rebecca Day at the Scottish Documentary Institute (http://www.docscene.org/), news of an incredible-looking series of documentary masterclasses: After well attended masterclasses and workshops with Jim Sutherland, Gaston Kabore and Fernanda Rossi and Andrey Paounov we're anxiously awaiting the visits by acclaimed documentary director Nicholas Philibert, Oliver Hodge (Garbagge Warrior), and Three Miles North of Molkom directors Robert Cannan Corinna Villari-McFarlane. Directing Documentaries with Nicolas Philibert Friday 21 Nov 2.00pm-5.00pm Lecture Theatre G40, Edinburgh College of Art, 74 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9DF Free but please RSVP to r.day@eca.ac.uk We are absolutely delighted to have renowned French director Nicolas Philibert to hold a 3 hour masterclass of his work. Probably most well-known for the multi award winning Etre et Avoir (To be and to Have) he is one of contemporary cinema's most acclaimed documentarists. He began his education by studying philosophy and later worked as an assistant director with such filmmakers as Rene Allio and Alain Tanner. Philibert's ability to approach man with tenderness, directness and sensitivity appears in his film In the Land of the Deaf, an exploration of the world through the eyes of those born without the sense of hearing. In 1995 Philibert revisited the subject of museums--also explored in Louvre City--finding humanity and humor within these stately institutions. Animals and More Animals examines the zoological wing of France's Museum of Natural History, which had been closed for years, and brings to light its unusual treasures. Minimalist and exceedingly moving He will be discussing past work and most recent work Retour en Normandie (Return to Normandy). Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0100