We're all caught up in the real life drama of Ukraine, in a way relatively few people were during the impeachment hearings when Trump's phone call with Zelensky was discussed in detail. When Trump held up Javelin missiles until Zelensky promised to dig up dirt on Biden's son.
There is so much to say. And so much has been said. Really, Republicans, when are you going to figure out how you to quit Trump? The man who calls Putin a genius. That truly sums Trump up - it's all about winning or losing. There's no morality involved. If you can take it and get away with it, it's all good.
This first video is a bit of very slick marketing. But all I'm reading and seeing these last couple of days suggests it's the right message - of people fighting for the survival of their country. Not to destroy it. This is February 2022, not January 6, 2021.
This second one is to give you a smile. And let's hope that Zelensky is alive and well to show us what a good dancer he still is next month and next year.
so apparently Zelenskyy won the Ukrainian version of Dancing with the Stars in 2006 and the tape is even better than whatever you're imagining pic.twitter.com/L1gnKD2ISr
Ed Rollins called her "the little girl' the other day. I guess that might go over well in white male bastions of power, but to everyone else it reflects how out-of-touch those Republican men are.
Another tried to smear here with video from her college days dancing on a Boston College roof with other students. Again, totally out of touch as the video went viral - and how could anyone think the video would put Alexandra Ocasio Cortez in a bad light? (Here's a post on the original video and the many duplicates overlaying other music.)
Her response was a tweet with more dancing. Infectious, joyful, skillful dancing.
I hear the GOP thinks women dancing are scandalous.
Wait till they find out Congresswomen dance too! 💃🏽
Such a delightful change from all the dour, serious images we usually get of our Congress members.
And you know? Hispanic women under 30 don't make it into Congress unless they are five times more competent than all the men around. As long as they keep thinking of her as a 'little girl' she's going to continue to surprise them.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn't the only member of congress to be caught dancing on video.
How about Republican Rep. Sean Duffy from Wisconsin?
Yes, as best as I can tell, this is real, from when he was on a reality tv show. I have no problem with the morality of it, but if some Republicans wanted to embarrass AOC with her old video, well, then this one shows it's her, not the dancing they're attacking.
"The San Antonio Democrat was convicted Feb. 22 of 11 felonies, including money laundering and fraud, tied to his work with FourWinds Logistics, a now-defunct oilfield services company where Uresti worked as general counsel, owned a 1 percent stake and earned a commission for recruiting investors, according to court documents."
Going international, here's Theresa May dancing to ABBA
And here's a Nigerian Senator Ademola Adeleke dancing while celebrating his electoral victory.He is also the uncle of Nigerian afrobeats star Davido.
And briefly looking at other musical talents, Rep. Joe Crowley is particularly relevant because the long time Democratic Congress Member who was defeated in the primary by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
'Short Docs' are non-fiction films under 55 minutes. At least that was the rule in the past. I mention that because one film in this category is 57 minutes. 'In Competition' means the programmers picked it to be in the running for an award.
The shorts (narrative and docs), because they're short, are grouped into programs. To see all the short docs in competition you have to see three different programs, plus one more showing where the 15 minute short in competition plays with the 57 minute short doc.
To make it easier to find the times and locations of the films you want to see, I've grouped them and color coded them by program.
Perceptions: From Prison to Purpose
Garret Guinn
USA
40 min
Perception was selected as the Best Oregon Film at the Oregon Documentary Film Festival in November 2017. Here's what their website says about the film:
"On April 14th, 2009, Noah Schultz was arrested for attempted murder in Portland, Oregon. This is the story of his transformation. During his seven years of incarceration, Noah took advantage of every program, workshop and educational service provided. He pushed himself not only to be better, but to challenge our perceptions of what it means to be an inmate."
*************************** Wildland
Daniel Steiner
USA
25 min
This is the kind of film Americans need to see regularly to better understand who the people behind bars are. This film shows inmates at a juvenile work camp program that give them fire fighting skills and experience to make it outside the prison.
"Dan Steiner has worked on impactful documentary programming around the globe for VICE, the National Geographic Channel, and Current TV (RIP). In addition, he has held numerous post-production positions at ad agencies like Wieden + Kennedy, JWT, and Venables Bell & Partners.
He received a Master’s degree in Journalism from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in 2016."
I couldn't find a trailer for this film, so here's the whole film, from his website:
This is an exquisite film. The camera writes poetry in light and patterns. Fred Nelson modestly but confidently voices wisdom.
"When the right thing comes along, something happens inside of us. . . There's a need to speak to God, but I think that everybody has their way of doing it. . . I know I found my joy in, not Jesus, not Allah, it's a piece of wood."
Ghosts of the Arctic
Abraham Joffe
Australia
7 min,
The photography, the landscapes, the caribou and polar bear shots are all incredibly beautiful. But this film is more about how brave the film makers were under harsh conditions than it is about polar bears - the presumed title characters of this film. I checked the amount of time that the filmmaker is in the image. I got 3 minutes and 21 seconds out of a six minute movie. There's also landscape. And a small amount of time with caribou and bears. Just read their own description of the movie at Untitled Film Works:
"Ghosts of the Arctic is the result of a passion project gone wild. Our goal was to venture out into the beautiful frozen expanse of Svalbard, in winter, to search and document polar bears. During the shoot we experienced temperatures that were never warmer than -20ºC and frequently plummeted down as low as -30ºC + wind chill factor.
Most days involved two hundred kilometres on snow mobile in very difficult terrain and conditions. We experienced three cases of first and second degree frostbite during the filming as well as several equipment failures as a result of the extreme cold. Each day involved 14-16 hours in the field.
The film was released with great reviews and write-ups on notable film blogs. The piece also received a converted [did yet mean coveted?] Video Staff pick of the Month."
In a movie about polar bears, the word 'bear' appears once in the description. It's mostly about how they braved the elements under terrible conditions. As an Alaskan, I'd say that -30˚C (-22˚F) is cold, but not terrible, if you're dressed right.
It would be fine to make a film about how hard it is to film polar bears in the wild, but that's not what they say their goal is and it's not what the title suggests.
But the footage is spectacular. You can judge for yourself. I could only find the whole video online, not a trailer.
******************************* Ten Meter Tower
Maximilien Van Aertryck
Sweden
16 min,
**Also Plays In Martini Matinee, Fri. Dec 8, Bear Tooth, 2pm
"Our objective in making this film was something of a psychology experiment: We sought to capture people facing a difficult situation, to make a portrait of humans in doubt. We’ve all seen actors playing doubt in fiction films, but we have few true images of the feeling in documentaries. To make them, we decided to put people in a situation powerful enough not to need any classic narrative framework. A high dive seemed like the perfect scenario."
After my comments about the previous film, I appreciated this comment very much:
"In our films, which we often call studies, we want to portray human behavior, rather than tell our own stories about it." (emphasis added)
"The Collection is a short documentary about two friends, DJ Ginsberg and Marilyn Wagner, and their discovery of an astonishing and unique collection of movie memorabilia, comprised of over 40,000 printer blocks and 20,000 printer plates used to create the original newspaper advertisements for virtually every movie released in the United States from the silent period through 1984, when newspapers stopped using the letterpress format."
This film should be shown before the full length documentary, Saving Brinton (it's the last movie in this post on the docs in competition.)
(Note: There's a 57 minute film (Journeys to Adaka) before it)
*******************************
Old Harbor, New Hope
Joshua Branstetter
USA/Alaska
15 Min
The pre-opeining night showing is about preserving a language that is only spoken fluently by about thirty people. This film is about resurrecting native dances among the Alutiiq people in the village of Old Harbor. I'd note the Old Harbor Village Corporation was contracted by Shell Shell to assist with its rescue operations in nearby Kiliuda Baywhen the oil drill Kulluk broke loose from the tug in 2013.
It was grey. Micro-droplets were floating down. The grass was damp, but once the music started the moisture abated and we had a great old fashioned concert in the park. It wasn't exactly a white round wooden bandstand, but it kept the orchestra assured of having dry instruments.
Maestros Berkowitz and Fleischer
It wasn't til near the end that they introduced Maestro Berkowitz. Based on my junior high school orchestra days, I'd say this was proof again that orchestras can do fine without a conductor. But he had a good time with the baton.
click to enlarge and focus
I took these pictures before it got crowded.
These traveling members of the UW marching band added a lot of enthusiasm to the afternoon.
And I don't expect there are too many 4th of July concerts that include Alaska Native* dancers. I wonder how many others include any Native American performances.
There were lots of dogs and kids. The little ones - who were awake - were having a great time moving to the music.
I find something disturbing about these giant blow up creatures, but can't quite put my finger on it yet.
